The families said they found the teenagers’ clothes on the river bank. Police said three bodies have been recovered and teams are working to recover the fourth. A day after four teenagers drowned in the Yamuna while playing near Kalindi Kunj, their families said they usually went for a swim in the river in the morning and returned by noon.
On Wednesday, the boys — Mohd Ali (11), his cousin Sahil (13) and their friends Farman (13) and Rihaan (13) — allegedly drowned around 10-11 am but their families and authorities found out much later. The four didn’t go to school and worked odd jobs to help their families.
DCP (Southeast) Esha Pandey said, “Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of Farman, Mohd Ali and Sahil from the river. Teams are still working to recover the fourth body.”
Omar Shahid, Sahil and Mohd Ali’s uncle, said, “… I went looking for them and found their clothes on the riverbank. I jumped into the river but couldn’t find them. I got scared and called police.”
Police said they received a call around 3.35 pm. The boys were last seen around 9-10 am and went missing soon after that. Several teams of the disaster management authority, fire services and divers worked for more than nine hours but could only recover Farman’s body. Rescue operations halted at night and began again on Thursday morning.
Fire officials said the water was deep and they used hoses and boats to find the bodies. They suspect that the boys got trapped in mud and drowned.
Sadakat Ali, Mohd Ali’s father, who works at a shop in the area, said, “I usually see my son in the afternoon before I go to work. On Wednesday, he wasn’t home and I asked his sisters about his whereabouts but they didn’t know. I was angry with him… I sent my daughters to look for him and they told me that his cousin and other friends are missing. We were all scared and started searching everywhere… It took almost a day to recover my son’s body.”
Imtiyaz, Rihaan’s father, said the four boys were close friends. “I was at home with my wife when Sadakat called me… Farman was trying to get a job at a restaurant. He wanted to help us… I still can’t believe they are gone,” he said.
Senior police officers said they don’t suspect foul play and that the teenagers drowned while swimming.
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