A 19-year-old boy drowned in Pooyamkutty river in Kuttampuzha on Monday.
The deceased was identified as S. Adarsh, a student of Shree Venkateshwara Polytechnic College, Erode, and a native of Charummoodu near Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district.
According to the police, the mishap occurred at 2.45 p.m. on Monday. Adarsh was swept away by underwater currents while attempting to swim across the river. His friend Umesh, a resident of Kottappadi, Kothamangalam, had a narrow escape.
The nine-member group, all students of the same institution, was on a visit to their friend’s house and had gone to the river for a bath. Of the four students who tried to cross the river, only two managed to reach the other side. Adarsh was swept away by underwater currents when he reached the halfway mark. Umesh’s efforts to rescue him went in vain. On an alert raised by the students, Raju, a local resident, took out his country craft and rushed to the scene. He managed to rescue Umesh but Adarsh had drowned by that time. Adarsh’s body was fished out of the river by 5.30 p.m.