PATHANAMTHITTA: Four people, including two children, drowned in Manimala river in Mallappally and Achankovil river in Kaipattoor. Karthik (16), son of Lakshmanan from Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu and Sabari (15), son of Veliyappan from Tenkashi Tirunelveli have drowned in Manimala river.

Enathu native Vishakh(21) and Ezhankulam native Sudheesh(25) are the deceased drowned in Achankovil river.

The accident at Mallappally was at 3.30 pm yesterday. Karthik and Sabari came with their family to the Manjal Nirat ceremony. After the ceremony, they went for a bath along with other children and they drowned.The two were brought ashore by their relatives after their companions called them on the phone. They were rushed to hospital but could not be rescued.

Visakh and Sudheesh were swept away in turbulent Achankovil river around 4 pm. Akhil, a young man from Kaipattoor, was also with them. At first Vishakh was swept away. Sudheesh saw this and jumped to his rescue. Akhil cried when he saw them drowning, but a neighbor who was bathing on the nearby bank tried to save them, but they drowned. The bodies were soon found during a search by fire force.