ALATHUR: A student who went fishing in Tharoor's Gayathripuzha went missing after being washed away by the river. The missing teenager Sipil (18) is the son of Sasi and Preeja, of Narani in Chittoor's Kuttipallam.
On Saturday at 10.30 am, a group of four came for fishing at the Thambrankettiya Kallu area of Gayathripuzha. While getting ashore after washing his feet with his friend Abhijith, Sipil slipped and fell backwards. While trying to save Sipil, Abhijit also fell into the river. Ashwin, who was with him, tried to save both of them but could only save Abhijith. In the meantime, Sipil drowned in the river.
According to another friend Sajith, Alathur Fire Force reached and searched for Sipil but could not find him. The search was called off at noon. The scuba team from Palakkad searched till 6 pm from Ariassery to Kuruthikode but to no avail. The National Disaster Response Force arrived at 6 pm and the search was resumed at 8 pm. It will resume at 6 am on Sunday. Sipil is a first year student of a private ITC in Alathur.