Teenage girl drowns after falling in river

Tragic drowning incident of teenage girl in Nettoor river prompts 12-hour search operation by rescue teams.

A teenage girl drowned after she reportedly slipped and fell into the river near the old bridge in Nettoor, Maradu municipality, on Friday around 6:15 a.m.

The deceased was identified as Fidha, 16, a plus one student. Her body was eventually found trapped in a fishing net just before the district scuba team of the Fire and Rescue Services department was about to call off the search, which lasted almost 12 hours. The National Disaster Response Force, the police, and voluntary organisations also participated in the search, which was led by the fire and rescue team from the Gandhi Nagar station, under the direction of Assistant Station Officer G. Suresh Kumar.

Reportedly, the deceased had gone to dispose off food waste in the river when she slipped on the slurry and fell in. Though the water level was not high at the time, there was a strong under current.

According to neighbours, her mother, Mumtaz, was behind her and witnessed her falling into the river. Mumtaz’s screams alerted her husband, Firoz Khan, and others in the neighbourhood. Firoz then plunged into the water and swam a considerable distance in search of her, but he was unable to find his daughter.

Firoz, a fish vendor, and his family are from Nilambur in Malappuram.