Two Indian-origin males drown in Colorado river

A late Sunday night outing on August 3, 2025 in a waterbody turned deadly for 2 of the 5 picnickers within the scenic Topock Gorge of the Colorado river. “The victims have been recognized as Anoop Gankidi, 32 of Tempe, Arizona, and Venkata Mukkaala, 32 of Milpitas, California,” in keeping with an announcement launched by Mohave County Sheriff’s Workplace.

The Indian-origin males had employed a rental pontoon which was parked on the sting of the river on the time of the incident. “All 5 occupants of the boat had entered the water to chill off when three of them slipped underwater and started to battle. One of many occupants was capable of get again to the shallow space, nevertheless Gankidi and Mukkaala didn’t resurface,” says the assertion by the Sheriff’s workplace. 

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division which was first to reach on the scene deployed a diver. The SBCSD diver was capable of find and retrieve one of many lacking males and tried life-saving measures earlier than transporting the particular person to water security centre. Each the lads have been transported to the Colorado River Medical Heart in Needles however have been pronounced deceased. 

Investigators stated that the 2 victims had been underwater for about 20 minutes when divers arrived on scene and have been situated in roughly 12 ft of water. The lads weren’t underneath affect, stated the sheriff’s workplace.