Kottayam: A 15-year-old boy drowned in the Meenachil River on Wednesday as his younger brother and friends looked on helplessly. A ferryman who jumped into the river to rescue the boy almost got himself killed but the firemen saved him in the nick of time.
Khaleel Sali, a tenth-standard student at the Mount Carmel CBSE School at Kanjikkuzhi, went for a dip in the river at Thazhathangadi around 5:30 in the evening along with his brother Abdul Khader and friends. Khaleel and Nihal, the big boys of the group, jumped into the river as the others stayed on the banks.
In the middle of the river, Khaleel suddenly found himself drowning and shouted for help. Nihal tried to save his friend but both of them went down. The other children’s cries alerted the ferryman in the locality, Kabir, who jumped into the river. More people jumped in from the other side.
The boys were found within a few moments. Kabir was dragging Khaleel to the shore when he himself got exhausted. The police and the firemen, who had reached the spot by then, saved Kabir from drowning. Kabir and Khaleel were rushed to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital but Khaleel could not be saved.
Kabir, the hero of the Thazhathangadi bus accident, was given first aid and kept on observation for a day. His relatives, however, tried to take him home because the hospital ward was full. Kabir was too weak that he passed out. He was admitted to the hospital again.
Kabir had led the rescue operations when a bus fell into the river at Thazhathangadi in 2010.
Deputy superintendent of police Gireesh P Sarathy and sub inspector Anoop C Nair and team worked with the firemen to rescue Kabir and Khaleel.
Khaleel is survived by father Muhammed Sali, mother Najma Ebrahim, brothers Umar Farooq and Abdul Khader.