Eleven Holi revellers drown in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, March 28: At least 11 teenagers drowned during

revelry in Nizamabad district and at Kukatpally area in Hyderabad on Wednesday, police said.

A group of 15 boys went to the village tank to bath after Holi celebrations in Basant Cheruvu (village tank) in Sirikonda village of Nizamabad district late this afternoon, after which seven of them began drowning, a senior police officer at Armoor told PTI.

Two of them were rescued by one of them even as five others drowned one after the another, he said.

The deceased were identified as Imran, his brother Afroz, Abraz, Taushik and Madhu, all aged between 16 and 17, who were students of the Intermediate first and second year course.

The police reached the spot within 10 minutes after being informed, retrieved their bodies and shifted them to a government hospital for postmortem, the police officer said.

"None of the five students who drowned in the incident knew to swim. It seems the boys entered the water without having any knowledge about its depth. However, after reaching a distance they were caught in the muddy area, where they slipped and drowned," he said.

In another incident, a 15-year-old boy Sheikh Amir drowned in a well in the Kukatpally area. Amir, along with four other friends went to take bath after participating in Holi celebrations, but drowned, while four others managed to save themselves, police said.

In Karimnagar district, five drowning deaths were reported. Sircilla Deputy Superintendent Damera Narsaiah said G Ambadas (30) and P Satyanarayana (28) of Mustipalli village drowned in a well while bathing after the Holi revelry.

S Saikiran Reddy (22), a student, drowned in a canal on the outskirts of Korutla. Earlier, Ajeem alias Ajju (28) drowned in a canal at Metpalli. Boina Srinivas (23), another student, drowned in Lower Manair Dam reservoir after falling down accidentally.

PTI