15-year-old boy drowns in Raibareli canal while swimming with friends

A 15-year-old boy drowned in the Mattan canal in Raibareli's Nasirabad area on Monday afternoon after he went swimming with his friends. Aarib Ansari, son of Munna Ansari and a resident of Quraish Nagar in ward number seven of Nasirabad Nagar Panchayat, had gone to the canal around 1 pm with his companions when the tragedy occurred.

According to eyewitnesses, Aarib ventured into deep water while bathing and drowned within moments. His friends, who witnessed him going under, panicked and rushed home to inform his family about the incident. The boy's clothes and slippers were later found on the canal bank, confirming the sequence of events.

As news of the drowning spread, family members and local villagers gathered at the spot. Station House Officer Pawan Kumar Sonkar arrived with a police team and immediately launched a search operation. Fire brigade personnel and local divers were pressed into service to comb through the canal waters. Despite several hours of intensive searching, no trace of the teenager could be found by late evening.

The incident has plunged Aarib's family into deep grief. His mother Suraiya Begum and other relatives were inconsolable, with chaos prevailing in the household. Aarib was the youngest of seven siblings, making the loss even more devastating for the family.

The Mattan canal, which passes through the Nasirabad area, has been the site of similar accidents in the past. Local authorities continue the search operation with the help of professional divers, hoping to recover the boy's body. Police are on site coordinating the rescue efforts and managing the crowd that has assembled near the canal.