Bhubaneswar: In a tragic mishap, a 12 year-old boy died after drowning in a canal reportedly while creating content for a reel in Bhubaneswar on Friday. The deceased minor was identified as Prakash Sethi of Damana village. 

As per reports, Prakash along with six other friends had gone to the canal nearby to take bath. Locals nearby asked them to abstain from gimmicks as the water flow was very strong due to incessant rains. 

Eyewitnesses claimed that the boys did not pay heed to warnings and wanted to film a slow motion reel of jumping into the water body. The group went ahead and one after the other, took leaps into the canal. While some of them managed to come back to the canal bank, Prakash slipped into a deeper section of the water and could not swim back. When he went missing for a while, onlookers raised an alarm realising he might have drowned. Fire personnel on getting information, arrived at the scene immediately and started search operations. 

After an hour-long search, they found Prakash at the far end of the canal bank. Since he was unconscious, fire personnel immediately rushed him to the hospital. But doctors declared him dead on arrival. 

Addressing mediapersons, one of the fire personnel said the boy had suffered major inflammation and fluid buildup in the lungs due to inhaled water. "We attempted CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and tried to bring him back to senses but he remained unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital but declared dead on arrival," he added.

A pall of gloom descended on the village as news of the boy's tragic death spread.