Sri Lanka, Oct. 7 -- A 17-year-old schoolboy drowned yesterday (6) in the swimming pool at his school in Dikwella, while he was attempting to retrieve a cricket ball that had fallen into the water, police said.

The incident occurred during a game of cricket he was playing with his classmates when the ball accidentally landed in the deep end of the pool.

The deceased, a Grade 12 student of Vijitha Central College, Dikwella, jumped into the pool to retrieve the ball but began to struggle and was unable to resurface. Another child, witnessing the incident, jumped in to assist but also started to drown. A lifeguard promptly intervened and rescued both boys from the water.

However, the 17-year-old student succumbed to drowning. The second c...