Two boys drown in panchayat swimming pool at Anadu

Thiruvananthapuram: Two boys drowned in a swimming pool run by Anadu panchayat at Venkavila, on Saturday noon.

Police identified the deceased as Shinil, 13, of Shinil Bhavan at Erappil and Aromal, 15, of Vadakkumkara Veedu at Kuisharkodu.

Entry to the pool is restricted to only in the morning and evening and the service of trainers is also available. However, the boys, part of a five-member gang, entered the pool at noon by jumping over a boundary wall. The pool was eight feet deep in the middle and the deceased did not know how to swim.

Hearing the other boys' cries for help, locals soon rushed to the spot and rushed the two boys to a hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival. Nedumangad police registered a case under Section 194 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita for unnatural death.

"The pool was an initiative of Anad panchayat to provide swimming training to the public. Hundreds of people have trained here, and this is the first time someone drowned in the pond," police said.

Shinil was a Class VIII student at Govt Vocational Higher Secondary School at Mancha and Aromal was a Class X student. Since there was no school on Saturday, the deceased, along with the others, decided to learn swimming on their own in the pool. While swimming, one of the boys drowned and the other person tried to rescue him.