Rescue operations underway at Kengeri Lake.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: Fire and Emergency personnel on Tuesday recovered the body of a 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister, who drowned at the Kengeri Lake in western Bengaluru on Monday evening.
The deceased is John Srinivas and his sister Lakshmi. Fire and emergency personnel and other rescuers found Srinivas’s body in the morning and Lakshmi’s body in the evening.
The police were alerted about the drowning between 5.30 pm and 6 pm on Monday, and a Hoysala patrolling vehicle was dispatched. Officers said the siblings lived near the lake. Their mother, Nagamma, a sanitation worker with the BBMP, was away at work when the drowning happened.
“It appears that the two were at the lake to fetch water when their pot fell into it,” a police officer said. “It is suspected that they both drowned while attempting to retrieve it.”
Sources from the Fire Department said the control room received an alert at 8.30 pm on Monday, but rescue operations were postponed due to poor lighting and heavy rain, resuming early Tuesday morning.
Srinivas’ clothes were found on the lake’s bank, leading the police to believe that Lakshmi drowned first, and Srinivas, after removing his clothes, jumped in to save her.
Nagamma has alleged that her son tried to call for help from neighbours, but when no one responded, he jumped into the water. The bodies have been sent for autopsy.