A 13-year-old boy drowned to death in the Bhavani River near Mettupalayam yesterday.

Sandeep Bala, a Class VIII student, had gone to play with friends yesterday but did not return even after 10 PM. The search for him turned futile and his parents filed a missing complaint at the Mettupalayam station.

Based on information that a boy was seen playing near the river late in the evening, the police and parents rushed to the spot and found his clothes on the bank of the river.

Though fire and rescue personnel arrived at the spot to search for the boy, they couldn’t because it had become very dark. The search resumed in the morning, and the boy’s body was found stuck in the slush, deep in the river. The body was sent for post mortem at Mettupalayam Government Hospital.

Just three days ago, on May 23, Elangovan, a Class III boy had drowned to death at the same spot.