IDUKKI:Two boys from Changanassery drowned in the reservoir of a check dam here at Mottakunnu in Wagamon on Saturday. The deceased are Mathew, 14, son of James, Vettiyadu, Bhagavathiparambil, Naalukodi, and Shaun Suby Antony, 13, son of Joseph, Thundiparambil, Naalukodi, the police said.The boys were part of a 35-member team of the St Thomas Church’s Sunday School, Naalukodi at Changanassery, who had visited the place as part of a sight-seeing trip, the police said.
They were accompanied by a priest, a nun and a teacher. The incident occurred when they were walking along the bank of the reservoir. One of the students, Philip, lost balance and fell into the reservoir of the check dam owned by the Tourism Department. The locals rushed to the spot on hearing the frantic cries of help from the school authorities and pulled out Mathew and rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
It was at this time that the school authorities realised that Shaun was missing. Soon, the police scoured the region and found sahun’s body. It is suspected that Shaun had tipped over and fell while trying to save Mathew, police said.