Berowra Creek drowning victims identified as Nepalese nationals Bishal Sedhanin and Roshan Chhatkuli
The identities of the two Nepalese men who died in a tragic drowning in Hornsby river on Friday evening have been revealed. It comes as harrowing details have been revealed by a witness who tried to help save the men.
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The identities of two Nepalese nationals who tragically drowned in a river at the Berowra National Park on Friday night have been revealed.
The bodies of Bishal Sedhanin, 26, and Roshan Chhatkuli, 23, were retrieved by police divers at 11.30pm on Friday after a fishing and camping trip went horribly wrong.
The families of the two men were contacted overseas and a report is being prepared by the coroner.
Another man who was with the group was rescued from the river by emergency services after they were contacted about 7.30pm.
He was pulled out of the water unconscious and was flown to Westmead Hospital in a serious condition.
Survivor, Pradip Pandey, 28, is the cousin of one of the men who died.
Mr Pandey is living in Sydney and works for an IT company.
One of his co-workers said he visited Mr Pandey in hospital and he is recovering.
“I’ve visited him in hospital, he was sleeping and taking a break,” Sudeep Khadka said.
“He couldn’t speak but he was giving us a thumbs up. He’s a good man and a good person. We heard about it from one of our friends.
“It’s very sad to hear this news and we are totally devastated by this tragedy and loss. We are very sad at this moment and I want to send my wishes to their family and relatives.”
A witness has also spoken about the harrowing details of what happened on Friday night.
Bilal Durnali, 16, who was attending a nearby holiday camp organised by ICMG Youth Guildford Mosque, said a younger boy had rushed up to his group of friends and said one of their youth group was drowning.
“We straight away got up and ran straight towards the river, getting on kayaks,” Bilal said. “The kayaks were too slow so I just jumped up and ran through the … wharf so I could get there quicker and I could help out.
Bilal said when he got to the water one of the men was being dragged ashore.
“One of the ambulance ladies and the campers he was with were slowly pulling him out. That’s when I jumped in and helped them grab him out of the water,” he said.
“I was diving under to find these guys and the girls were crying and saying ‘Two more. Two more. Under the water. Under the water’.”
Bilal said he had been told the men “were playing around on the sandbank. They fell and kept going deeper and deeper until they were in the middle of the river”.