Four schoolboys, who went to swim in a tank at Muttige village in Alur taluk of Hassan district, drowned on Thursday as they tried to save one of them who experienced difficulty in staying afloat.
They have been identified as Jeevan, 13, Vishwas, 12, and Pruthvi, 12, all residents of Muttige, and Sathvik, 11, of Madaghatta. All four are students of government school in Muttige.
As schools are closed for summer vacation, the students spent time playing in the village.
Around 12.30 p.m. they went to swim in the tank along with another friend, Chirag. One of them is believed to have experienced difficulty coming out of water, which led the others to attempt to rescue him and in the process drowned. Chirag somehow got out of the water and informed passersby and villagers about the incident.
As news of the incident spread, hundreds of people gathered at the tank. Parents and relatives of the deceased were in a state of shock. The police and staff of the Fire and Emergency Services reached the spot. The bodies were retrieved from the tank.
District Fire Officer Naveen Kumar told The Hindu that the Sakleshpur Fire Station was informed about the incident around 12.45 p.m.
“Our vehicles and staff reached the spot by 1.30 p.m. We retrieved all the four bodies after an operation that lasted about 45 minutes,” he said.
Hassan Deputy Commissioner C. Sathyabhama, who visited the spot, felt that parents should keep an eye on their children during holidays. She also said that the district administration would write to the Chief Minister’s office seeking relief for the families of the boys who died.
