Rowing
Two young rowers die in Kolkata lake as boat overturns during thunderstorm
Two ninth-standard students, who were rowing at the Rabindra Sarobar lake in Kolkata, died when their boat overturned after being caught in the Norwester storm on Saturday afternoon.
Rescue operation being conducted at the Rabindra Sarovar lake in Kolkata after rowing boat overturns (Source: Rajesh Saha/Twitter)
Two ninth-standard students of the reputed South Point school in Kolkata, who were rowing at the Rabindra Sarobar lake, died when their boat overturned after being caught in the Norwester storm on Saturday afternoon.
Police have identified the two victims as Pushan Sadhukan and Souradeep Chatterjee. They were both aged 14 years and were trainees at the Lake Club rowing facility. Both Sadhukhan and Chatterjee were rowing with three other teenagers when their boat was caught in a squall around 4.40 PM. As the boat overturned, they fell into the water. While the other three were able to swim ashore, the two drowned.
A team of Kolkata Police's disaster management group scanned the water of the South Kolkata lake for several hours before they could find Sadhukhan around 7.40 PM and Chatterjee 20 minutes later in the same area. They were taken to the SSKM hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.
It was learnt that the students were training for an inter-school competition.
"When the rowers started their training around 3 PM the weather was fine but while they were coming back to the shore, the squall started and at least 6-7 boats capsized at the same time. While some swam ashore by themselves, others were saved on rescue boats. When we brought all of them to the club, we realised two of them were missing and we instantly resumed a search operation. Cops joined us soon but it was only after three hours that we could spot them," said Lake Club's joint secretary Debu Datta to Times of India.
Both Sadhukhan and Chatterjee were trained swimmers and were training for rowing at the Lake Club for the past one-and-a-half years.
Mayor of Kolkata Firhad Hakim and the city's police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal rushed to the spot. "Previously, there used to be a diesel speedboat that could be used in emergencies. It was withdrawn after environmentalists objected to it. But I think it could have saved the two," said Hakim.
