Another boy drowns in river
Singye, a Class 11 science student of Bajothang higher secondary school, had gone to bathe in the river with two friends, Kinley and Sonam, at around 2:20 pm, having finished their school SUPW.
Kinley and Sonam told Kuensel that, when Singye left for the river, he asked them to bring towels and soap from the hostel, which is about 300 m away from the river. “I warned Singye that we shouldn’t swim, but he said he just wanted to have a bath,” said Sonam. Singye was already in the river when they arrived at the spot minutes later, they said.
“When we got to the river, Singye was holding on to a black polythene pipe near the riverbank, which takes pumped water to a nearby farm, and then he slipped,” said Kinley. “We hadn’t even entered the water when Singye suddenly yelled my name.” Of the three of them, only Kinley knew how to swim.
Kinley said he immediately swam across to help his friend, who could barely keep his head afloat as the river pulled him further from the bank. “His eyes were barely above the water, but I swam as fast as I could and got hold of him,” he said. “We were both swept almost 50 m downstream. As we got closer to the bank, Sonam gave his hand to grab but a sudden current swept us both and we lost him.”
Sonam and Kinley said that was the last time they saw their friend. “The water looked calm from the outside, but there was an unusual force inside that swept him away,” they said. Kinley suffered minor bruises on his thighs, which he had used to support his friend to stay afloat.
A search team of teachers, police officials, soldiers and dzongkhag officials are still looking for the body of the student along the riverbank.
Bajothang HSS vice principal, Melam, said that, with the tragic incident in Chukha last week, students were warned every morning during assembly to stay away from the river. “We’ve had enough awareness even from the dzongkhag, but students don’t listen,” he said.
Wangdue dzongda Lhendup Wangchuk said that parents would have to take an active role in informing their children about the dangers of the river and awareness raising in the schools would continue. “We’ve informed the gups to talk to the parents, who would then inform their children,” he said.
