15-year-old boy found dead in canal three kilometers downstream after drowning

A 15-year-old boy who went missing while bathing with friends in a canal near Raebareli has been found dead, police said on Wednesday. The body was recovered approximately three kilometers from where the teenager had drowned a day earlier.

The victim has been identified as Sharib, son of Munna Ansari, a resident of Ward Number 7, Quraish Nagar in Nasirabad. He had gone to the Mattan canal near Ashrafpur village in the Nasirabad police station area with his friends on Tuesday afternoon. While bathing, Sharib suddenly ventured into deeper water and drowned before his friends could react.

A search operation was launched immediately after the incident was reported. Teams from the Nasirabad Nagar Panchayat, including trained divers, and personnel from the State Disaster Response Force were deployed to locate the missing teenager. The rescue teams worked through the night and into Wednesday, combing the canal and surrounding areas.

Around noon on Wednesday, divers from the Nagar Panchayat team spotted the body floating in the water about three kilometers downstream from the spot where Sharib had drowned. They immediately raised an alarm, following which SDRF personnel reached the location by motorboat and retrieved the body from the canal.

The recovery of the body sparked scenes of grief among family members and local residents who had gathered at the site. Police have sent the body for post-mortem examination and have begun an investigation into the incident. Authorities have once again urged residents, especially young people, to exercise caution while bathing in canals and rivers, particularly during the current season when water levels can be deceptive.