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2 school children killed while rowing after being hit by squall in Kolkata
The two victims have been identified as Pushan Sadhukan and Souradeep Chatterjee. They were both aged 14 years and were students of reputed schools in Kolkata.
Kolkata: Two school children were killed when the boat in which they were practicing rowing in a lake in south Kolkata, overturned after being hit by a squall on Saturday afternoon.
Kolkata, along with several other districts in south Bengal, was hit by a storm on Saturday around 4:30 pm. Winds gusting up to 90 km per hour hit the city followed by rain.
At least three other people were killed in separate incidents during the squall in the districts. While one was killed after being hit by lightning, two others were killed when trees got uprooted and fell on them.
The two victims have been identified as Pushan Sadhukan and Souradeep Chatterjee. They were both aged 14 years and were students of reputed schools in Kolkata.
“They were practicing rowing on Saturday afternoon for the inter-school rowing championship. They had won the semi-finals earlier during the day. The final was scheduled to be held on Sunday,” said a senior police officer.
The boys were rushed to a hospital after their bodies were fished out. The doctors declared them dead on arrival.
“There were many boats in the Rabindra Sarobar Lake in which students and others were rowing. When the storm hit, they all came back. One boat overturned. There were five people in the boat. Three swam back. Two couldn’t manage and drowned,” said Chandan Roychowdhury, secretary of the Calcutta Rowing Club.
Mayor of Kolkata Firhad Hakim and the city’s police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal rushed to the spot.
