Bodies of two youths found, two more still missing in sea

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The  bodies of two of the four youths who went missing in the sea off Azhimala near Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram were recovered in the early hours of Friday. The body of one person was found near Panathura near Thiruvallam while the other was found floating near Kovalam. The bodies have been identified as that of Johnson Cleetus, 25, and Manu Napolean, 23, both natives of Pulluvila near Poovar. The bodies were spotted in the sea by the Vizhinjam coastal police, Indian Coast Guard and Marine Enforcement during a joint search operation.

The bodies have been shifted to the morgue of the Medical College Hospital and will be handed over to the families after the postmortem examination and Covid-19 test on Saturday. Meanwhile, the search is on for the other two youths. They are Sabu George, 23, and Santhosh Varghese, 25. They were also natives of Pulluvila.

A cheerful evening gone awry

The group of ten gathered at the beach on Thursday evening as Johnson Cleetus was supposed to leave for London on Friday. Later the evening, four members went missing while bathing at the Azhimala beach. According to coastal police, the four were washed away by the waves around 6pm.