Teen drowns, friend dies trying to save him
Two teenagers drowned in the Yamuna stretch near north Delhi’s Burari on Wednesday morning, when they tried to swim in the river to beat the sweltering heat.
The deceased have been identified as Himanshu (13) and Manit (14), both residents of Pradhan Enclave in Burari. According to one of their friends, Manit began drowning in the river first as he was not a good swimmer. Himanshu drowned while trying to save him.
According to locals, Himanshu and Manit had been on a morning walk at around 5 am on Wednesday. They were accompanied by two friends, Saurabh and Shubham, both aged 12.
“They walked around a kilometre from their home to reach the banks of Yamuna, where Himanshu and Manit decided to take a bath. Saurabh and Shubham refused to enter the river and sat outside with their clothes and belongings,” said Vikram Singh, a local, based on his interaction with the survivors.
Himanshu came out of the river within minutes, while Manit continued to frolic. Then, Manit began to drown. “Himanshu jumped into the water to save Manit, but both of them drowned,” Singh said.
The other boys, who didn’t know how to swim, raised an alarm before running home to alert the families of the drowning
Police and the fire department were soon alerted and rescue teams were rushed to the spot. According to the police, by the time divers fished out the boys, they were already dead.
Tarun, a friend of the deceased boys, said the duo did not swim regularly in Yamuna but had been planning for a few days to visit the river because of the heat.
“They even visited the spot two to three times recently, but the locals did not allow them to enter the water because of it was swampy and deep,” Tarun said.
The boys’ relatives said they were unaware that the boys left home to swim in the river.
Local residents said this was not the first time that people trying to swim in that stretch of Yamuna had drowned. “A few months ago, another teenager named Raju had drowned here,” said a local. Police have ruled out any foul play in the deaths.