Four teenage boys swept away in canal

Nagpur, Oct 14 (PTI) Four teenage boys were swept away in a river canal near Ramtek in Nagpur district of Maharashtra on Monday, police said.

A search has been launched by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel to trace Mandeep Patil (17), Mayank Meshram (14), Anant Sabre (13), and Mayur Bagre (15)- all students of Indira Gandhi Vidya Mandir and Junior College in Ramtek. They hail from Nagpur.

The students, all inmates of the college hostel, ventured into the canal at around 2 pm for bathing, officials said.

"They were swept away due to strong water currents in the canal overflowing due to the recent release of water from the Pench River," a police official said.

After being alerted, SDRF personnel and local police rushed to the spot and launched a search operation.

The search was suspended due to darkness and will resume on Tuesday morning, the officials said. PTI COR NSK