2 Indian students killed in Scottish waterfall accident

PTI, Apr 19, 2024, 8:17 PM IST

London: Two students from India who were studying at a university in the UK have been killed in a tragic drowning incident at a scenic waterfall in Scotland. Police Scotland are yet to name the men from Andhra Pradesh in their 20s and a post-mortem is due to take place on Friday.

The incident took place at the Linn of Tummel near Blair of Atholl in Perthshire on Wednesday night when two men from a group of friends on an outing fell into the water and got into difficulty.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service sent boat teams and vessels to assist with the rescue efforts after their friends raised the alarm with the emergency services.

“Around 7 pm on Wednesday, April 17, we received a report of two men, aged 22 and 26 years, in the water at the Linn of Tummel waterfall near Blair Atholl,” said a Police Scotland spokesperson.

“Emergency services attended and following searches in the area, the bodies of two men were recovered from the water. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances however there would not appear to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding these deaths,” the spokesperson said.

The police said a report of the incident will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, Scotland’s prosecution service and death investigation body.

The Indian High Commission in London said the two students from Andhra Pradesh had ‘drowned in an unfortunate incident’ and their bodies were found a little downstream.

The Consulate General of India in Edinburgh has been in contact with their families and a consular official has also met a UK-based relative of one of the students.

“The University of Dundee has assured of all help. The post-mortem is expected to take place on April 19 and thereafter the procedures for repatriating bodies to India will be done,” said a High Commission statement.

A University of Dundee spokesperson said: “This has been a tragic accident which has shocked us all, and our thoughts are with the families and friends of the students. We have been providing support to those families and friends at this extremely difficult time.”