A group of friends who went on a picnic met with disaster when two of them drowned in the Belahalli Lake on Saturday morning. The deceased have been identified as Fayaz (17) and Sufiyan (18), both residents of R.T. Nagar and pre-university students at Presidency College in Kempapura.
Fayaz and Sufiyan were part of a group of eight boys who had gone to the lake to celebrate the Deepavali holiday. Survivors told the police that Sufiyan was clicking pictures when Fayaz entered the water body to pose. However, Fayaz did not know how to swim. He suddenly lost his balance and went under water. Sufiyan jumped into the water to save him but he too did not surface.
Survivors soon alerted the public around, who rushed to the lake to rescue the duo. Some men jumped into the waters and pulled out Fayaz. However, he was dead by then. Local police and rescuers from the Fire and Emergency Services rushed to the spot and pulled out the body of Sufiyan within an hour.
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The Bagalur police said the lake wasn’t too deep but the lake bed was filled with clay and the two got stuck in it and drowned. Based on preliminary enquiry, police say Fayaz fell backward because of a strong current and his head hit a boulder. Sufiyan was stuck in the clay and couldn’t wriggle out. Autopsies on the bodies were conducted at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Medical College and the bodies handed over to the families.