Two drown in river

A 39-year-old man and his 12-year-old niece drowned as he tried to rescue her as well as his 15-year-old daughter from a powerful undertow while bathing in Cheruvadi river in the district on Thursday afternoon.

The police identified the deceased as Mohammed Ali, a native of Melangadi near Kondotty in Malappuram and his niece, Fathima Rinsha, of Mongam in Malappuram. His daughter, Mufida, was admitted to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

Case registered

The bodies have been shifted to the morgue of the hospital for post-mortem. The Mukkom police have registered a case of unnatural death.