3 teenagers feared drowned in Narmada canal

AHMEDABAD: Three teens from the city are feared to have drowned on Sunday afternoon in the Narmada canal near Karai in Gandhinagar district. Fire brigade officials from Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, along with a team from

National Disaster Relief Force

(NDRF), continued the search for the trio till late in Sunday night but the youths could not be found.

Officials of Gandhinagar Fire and

Emergency Services

(GFES) said that they had received a call at 1:30 pm on Sunday about drowning of some youths. Mahesh Mod, fire officer, GFES, said that a group of five youths, all from the walled city of Ahmedabad, had come to the Narmada canal on Sunday afternoon on an outing.

“The youths had come between Nabhoi and Karai and jumped the fence to enter the canal,” the fire officer said.

“Preliminary questioning has revealed that the youths had entered the prohibited area to click a selfie. One of the teens slipped and as he could not maintain balance, he fell into the canal. The other two apparently tried to rescue him but they also fell into the canal,” Mod said. The three were identified as

Kiran Chauhan

, 18, a resident of Dhobighat, Shahpur;

Vikas Bodana

, 17, a resident of Chotalal ni Chali, Delhi Darwaja; and

Naresh Vaniya

, 19, a resident of Noorbhai ni Chali, Shahpur.

A boat with firemen was sent to the spot by GFES which had launched the search soon after getting the call. However, the current in the canal was strong and firemen from Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) were called in to help. Eventually, another boat and team from NDRF also joined the search upstream.

Rajesh Bhatt, additional chief fire officer, AFES, said that till Sunday night, the three youths could not be traced. “The search will be resumed on Monday morning,” Bhatt said.