Kerala nursing student drowns after being swept away while crossing swollen culvert in Chhattisgarh

A 23-year-old nursing student from Kerala drowned in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district after he and his female friend fell into a swollen river while crossing a culvert on a motorcycle. Locals rescued the woman, while SDRF recovered his body downstream on Sunday

Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh): A 23-year-old man from Keralam drowned after being swept away while crossing a swollen culvert on a motorcycle in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district, police said on Sunday. His 22-year-old woman friend, who was riding pillion, also fell into a river, on which the river during the incident on Saturday, but locals rescued her, they said.

The duo, hailing from Keralam, arrived in Ambikapur, the headquarters of Surguja district, on Friday. They went to Mainpat on a motorcycle on Saturday, Kamleshwarpur police station house officer Manoj Prajapati said.

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While crossing the Ghunghanta culvert, the motorcycle’s wheel suddenly slipped, causing both of them to fall into the river amid a strong current, he said. Local residents managed to rescue the woman, while the man, identified as Yedu Krishnan, was swept away by the strong current, he said.

The police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams subsequently launched a search operation. The SDRF recovered the body at around 10.30 am on Sunday at a spot around one kilometre downstream from where he was swept away, the official said.

The woman was taken to a hospital, where her condition was stated to be normal, as per officials. As per preliminary information, Krishnan, who was a nursing student in Bengaluru, had come to meet his female friend, who studies at an institute in Raipur, Prajapati said. Krishnan’s family members in Keralam have been informed and are expected to arrive here by Sunday evening, police said.