CUTTACK: In a tragic incident, an 18-year-old youth drowned while learning to swim in Mahanadi river near Jobra here on Sunday morning.The deceased has been identified as Shohel Khan, a Plus II second year student of Choudwar College.According to reports, Shohel of nearby Purbakachha village was one the 15 youths of Nimpur Sports Club who had gone to learn swimming in Mahanadi river at about 8 am.
Eyewitness said while other youths succeeded in returning to the bank, Shohel along with three other youths had swam up to 50 mtr distance. The three youths tried to rescue him, but could not succeed and also swam back to the bank. Local fishermen then started searching for Shohel with the help of three country boats.
On being informed, fire service personnel and ODRAF teams rushed the spot and launched a rescue operation which was reportedly delayed because the oxygen mask of the scuba team did not work.After searching for about three hours, the fire service personnel managed to retrieve his body, reportedly traced by local fisherman Hemant Nayak.
“While an unnatural death case has been registered in Jagatpur police station, further investigation is on to ascertain the details including the license of the sporting club for training and whether adequate safety measures were taken by the trainer,” said Jagatpur IIC, Rabindra Meher.