In Kerala, five NCC cadets, hailing from Delhi were drowned in Periyar river near Malayattoor in Ernakulam district around Wednesday noon. Police sources said, the cadets were caught in a whirlpool in the river while attempting to take photographs. The victims were members of the national-level trekking camp, organised by the Kerala NCC Directorate at Malayattoor.

Meanwhile, the bodies have been shifted to the Ernakulam General Hospital for postmortem, from where they will be flown to Delhi on Thursday. Over 1000 cadets from 16 states are participating in the national level trekking camp which began last Sunday.

The Defence Minsiter A.K Antony has announced an ex- gratia of 3 lakh and 50 thousand rupees each to the next of the kin of the five NCC Cadets who drowned in Periyar River in Ernakulam District of Kerala today. The Defence Ministry in its statement said that an inquiry has also been ordered into the incident. In addition, arrangements are being made to airlift the bodies of the deceased cadets from Kerala to Delhi and the arrangements for the funeral are also being made.
Mr Antony has expressed his deepest condolences to the parents of the cadets who were from Delhi and were participating in an All India Trekking Camp at Malayattoor near Kochi in Kerala. The national level trekking camp had commenced on 23rd December and was slated to end on the 30th of this month.