Teen drowns at Mumbai’s SGNP while trying to show swimming skills to friends

A 15-year-old boy who jumped into a trench to show his five friends how he swam drowned as they helplessly looked on at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Aarey Colony, Goregaon (East), on Saturday. His body was fished out several hours later around midnight.

The trench was overflowing with rain water and, according to the police, he misjudged the water level.

According to the Aarey police, Vishal Ambore, a resident of MIDC in Andheri (East), took his friends to SGNP to show them his swimming skills. The six friends reached the spot in Ambevadi, which is about 100 metres inside from the Marol pipeline in Aarey Colony, at 1pm. Ambore jumped into the trench, which was 15-20 feet deep and swam for a minute.

“He could not swim much and drowned as his friends looked in horror and tried to save him by using a stick. There was no one nearby who could have rescued him,” said senior inspector Vijaylaxmi Hiremath. As Ambore was drowning, his friends got scared and ran off home. Ambore’s parents were later intimated, who filed a complaint with Powai police station.

The Powai police alerted Aarey police and fire brigade, who brought out the body at 11.15pm. A case of accidental death has been recorded.

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