IIT Guwahati BTech student dies after drowning in Brahmaputra river, another rescued

Another student who fell into the river with her was rescued shortly after the incident, officers said.

A third-year BTech student of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) died after accidentally falling into the Brahmaputra near Guwahati’s Lathia Bagicha Ghat on Saturday evening, police said on Sunday.

Soon after the incident, local sailors came to rescue them, and they were followed by a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) immediately. (File Photo)

Another student who fell into the river with her was rescued shortly after the incident, officers said, adding that the two students had gone to the riverside when they accidentally fell into the river on Saturday evening.

Rescue operation

Soon after the incident, local sailors came to rescue them, and they were followed by a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) immediately.

“One of the students was rescued within around 20 minutes, while the body of the other student was recovered after nearly three hours of searching,” an official of NDRF said.

What the IIT said

The IIT, in a statement on Sunday, expressed condolences to her family. “It is with profound grief and deep sorrow that IIT Guwahati informs of the untimely demise of a BTech 3rd Year student of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), who tragically lost her life in a drowning incident near Lathia Bagicha Ghat yesterday evening,” the institute said.

“Police authorities are presently conducting a formal investigation into the circumstances of the incident,” the institute added.

Additional superintendent of police (Kamrup), Kalyan Pathak, said police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. “We are investigating the matter further,” he told HT on Sunday, without divulging the identity of the deceased.