THRISSUR: A first-year MSc Botany student of Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, who was on an internship at Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), drowned in Peechi reservoir on Thursday.
The incident occurred as Mohammed Yahiya, 25, a native of Thanur, along with two of his friends who were also interns at KFRI Peechi, were swimming in Peechi reservoir on Wednesday evening. The trio swam to an island in the reservoir and on the way back, Yahiya went missing while the other two reached the shore. As the two friends found Yahiya missing, they informed local people and sought their help.
Though search operation was initiated by the local people and the fire force team on Wednesday night, it had to be halted due to poor visibility. Later, the body was recovered during the search operation conducted on Thursday morning.
The Scuba team of fire force said that the muddy water and poor visibility hindered the search operation. Revenue Minister K Rajan visited the reservoir and coordinated the search operation.
Yahiya was also the secretary of SFI unit in Maharaja’s College.