New Delhi: Two youths rowing in south Kolkata’s Rabindra Sarobar lake drowned after running into a sudden Nor’wester on Saturday. The incident took place at 5.30pm when one of the five boats, which were in the waters at the time, tumbled in the face of strong winds. The boat was carrying four rowers. While two of them managed to swim ashore, the other two were reported missing.
The rowers had set sail as part of a regular training session at the rowing club when they were hit by the Nor’wester.
A report claimed there was a light drizzle about when the rowers started pushing the oars. However, by the time they reached the middle of the lake, the storm arrived out of nowhere sending one of the boats tumbling.
The depth of water at the spot where the boat capsized was about 20 metres, said a IANS report.
Divers from the state disaster management department were called in to lead the rescue effort and they fished out the bodies of the missing rowers after an operation lasting nearly three-and-a-half hours.
The victims were identified as Pushpen Sandhukha and Sourodeep Chatterjee, the IANS report said, adding that both were in their teens.
It is learnt that one of the deceased was a student of South Point School while the other was the son of a senior police officer.
According to the IANS report, three more deaths in Nor’wester and lightning incidents were reported in West Bengal. Two of these incidents were reported in Burdwan district, another took place in Hooghly district.
The Nor’wester on Saturday also disrupted flight services at the Kolkata airport for an hour, the IANS report further stated.