2 school kids drown while retrieving football in Hailakandi

Silchar: Two school students drowned in a waterbody in Hailakandi district on Thursday afternoon after entering the water to retrieve a football during a game, police said.

The incident occurred at Chiparsangan under Panchgram Police Station limits, where a group of youths were playing football on a ground adjoining a waterbody. According to sources, the ball accidentally fell into the water, and the two victims waded in to fetch it.

The two boys reportedly slipped into deep water and drowned before help could reach them. Other players and local residents immediately launched a rescue effort and alerted the police, who rushed to the spot.

The boys were pulled out of the water and taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

Police identified the victims as Anupam Singha, a Class X student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Panchgram, and Abhinav Singha, a Class VII student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. The bodies were later sent to SK Roy Civil Hospital in Hailakandi for autopsy.

The tragedy cast a pall of gloom over the area, with relatives, friends, and local residents mourning the untimely deaths of the two students..