Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal
Bantwal, Apr 24: In a tragic incident, two youngsters drowned in the Netravati river at Bastipadpu here on the evening of Sunday April 24.
The deceased have been identified as Anaas (18) and Asmani (21), both hailing from Delhi. They were working in a local furniture store.
As it was a holiday on Sunday, seven friends including Anaas an Asmani went to the river for a swim.
While swimming, the two failed to gauge the depth of the water and got pulled away by the currents. Eyewitnesses said that though the other five friends screamed for help, there were no expert swimmers available at the spot and the duo could not be rescued.
It is also alleged that though one of the locals rushed to the fire service office located at a shouting distance from the spot, the fire personnel left for some other work instead of coming to the youngsters' rescue.
The locals then got into the water and retrieved the bodies, which were sent to Bantwal government hospital for post-mortem. Procedure is on to send the bodies to Delhi.
Bantwal town police have registered a case.