Punjab: Engineering student dies as heavy rains flood college campus

A 19-year-old student drowned after water gushed into the campus of a private university near Rajpura here following heavy rains, police said on Tuesday.

Incessant rains from Saturday to Monday led to swelling of rivers and major canals were breached, inundating roads, residential colonies as well as tracts of agricultural fields in Punjab. Patiala district is one of the worst affected in the state.

The victim, identified as Harish, hailed from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh and was pursuing BTech in computer science for the past two years.

According to police, the incident occurred as a result of water entering the university premises on Sunday, causing panic among the students.

While others were rescued, Harish got caught as the water continued to rise, a police official said.

The hospital where he was taken has informed police that the student was declared dead on arrival.

The student's brother Sachin, who reached Rajpura on Tuesday, said he was missing since Sunday night.

We had been calling him on the phone, but he was not answering, said his brother.