KOCHI: A purportedly thrill-seeking Tanzanian cadet who was undergoing training at the Ezhimala Naval Academy went missing after being swept away by strong currents in the Kochi backwaters on Sunday evening. Navy and fire and rescue teams launched a joint search operation, which was later solely overseen by the former.
The incident occurred when 22-year-old Abdul Ibrahim jumped off the Venduruthy Bridge at “his own risk” and was caught in the current, a top source with the Navy said.
Abdul was on vacation and had travelled to Kochi with friends for sightseeing.
The jump was not part of any training activity and he had acted on his own risk, the source said.
Efforts afoot to locate cadet; probe under way
“Abdul was reportedly scheduled to return to his home country on Monday. Tragically, the incident occurred just a day before his planned departure,” said an official with the Navy.
“He successfully completed two or three jumps, but was caught by the current and went missing on a later attempt,” he said.
Efforts to locate him are ongoing, and a thorough investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, the official added.
Responding to the rescue operation, a fire and rescue personnel from the Club Road fire station, who was part of the initial response, said, “We received the alert around 5.30 pm on Sunday and reached the spot promptly. There were strong undercurrents in the particular location, and making the rescue efforts extremely challenging.”
We had only one scuba team available, and they were already attending another emergency in the Varapuzha region. As a result, we couldn’t conduct an intensive search in the area. We did our best with the resources at hand but had to conclude our operation around 7 pm, as continuing the search in adjoining areas required special clearance from the concerned authorities,” he explained.
He added that once the Navy took over the search operations entirely, the fire and rescue team withdrew from the scene.