12 July,2024 04:52 PM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondent
Representative Image. File Photo
A 26-year-old Indian IT professional working in California reportedly drowned in the famous Glacier National Park in the US state of Montana while on vacation with friends, according to park authorities.
The victim has been identified as Siddhant Vitthal Patil, the National Park Service said in a statement.
As per the PTI report, Patil, who was a technology professional, was hiking above the gorge on June 6 on the Avalanche Lake Trail, where he fell off a large rock into Avalanche Creek.
It is unclear if he slipped on a wet portion of the rock or lost his balance, reported PTI.
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Friends who were with him reportedly saw Patil go underwater and resurface before being swept up by the current into the gorge.
His body has not been found. Helicopters conducted aerial searches, but officials suspected the body was being held down. Patil is presumed dead, the statement said.
Rangers suspect that the body is being held down by submerged obstacles such as fallen trees or rocks.
According to the PTI report, rangers are continuously monitoring the area and are starting to recover personal items that have washed downstream.
The water in the gorge is unsearchable due to depth and turbulence, creating whitewater conditions. Rangers reportedly flew a drone to try and determine the location of the body, but the effort was unsuccessful. Ground search efforts continue from the gorge to the bridge on the Trail of the Cedars.
Patil, hailing from Maharashtra, was living and working in California and on vacation with friends, reported PTI.
As per the news agency report, he texted his mother two hours before the tragic incident, telling her that he would be returning to San Jose, where he worked with Cadence Design Systems, in another three days.
His friends reportedly got his iPhone IMEI numbers from the phone box in his room and gave them to the Park Rangers in Montana and other authorities to help in the search work, Chaudhari said. This hasn't yielded results yet, his maternal uncle Pritesh Chaudhari, who is based in Pune, told PTI.
His mother, Priti, and father, Vitthal, who retired from the Maharashtra government's irrigation department in May, are in shock and not in a position to speak, Chaudhari said.
He said leaders from Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, have written to the government seeking its help. According to the PTI report, union minister Murlidhar Mohol, who hails from Pune, is in touch with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for updates on the search operation.
Patil went to the US in 2020 to do his MS at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined Cadence in 2023.
(With inputs from PTI)
