THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A pleasure ride turned tragic for two friends as the water bike they were travelling in capsized in the backwaters of Kappil, near Paravur, on Saturday.
A youth went missing and the other managed to escape by holding onto the boat. The missing youth has been identified as Sam Paul Thampi, 25, of Palakkad. The Paravur police have registered a case.
According to police, the accident took place around 9 am when Bipin Das, 26, an employee of a private resort at Kappil, took his friend Sam for a ride in the resort’s water bike across the backwaters.
The water bike picked up speed and it eventually capsized in the deeper portion of the lake.
Sam Paul who was struggling to swim is feared drowned while Bipin escaped after clinging to the upturned water bike. The police and Fire Force rushed to the spot and carried out search operations. The search operations were in progress until night, police said.
The police said they did not use any safety measures, including life jackets.