Teenage boys who drowned in Derry lake described as ‘best friends who did everything together’

Two teenage boys who drowned in a Co Derry lough on Monday evening have been described as best friends who “did everything together”.

A joint funeral will be held on Friday for Reuven Simon and Joseph Sebastian following the tragedy at Enagh Lough on the outskirts of Derry city.

The St Columb’s College pupils, both aged 16, were from the Waterside area and among a group of six friends who cycled to the beauty spot a few miles from their home on the last day of the school holidays.

One of the boys got into difficulty while swimming in the water and the another went to his aid.

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Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Mark H Durkan visited the homes of the bereaved parents, who are from the city’s community with links to Kerala in India, on Tuesday afternoon and said they were “inconsolable”.

“I know these families pretty well as I’ve working been with the settled Kerala community in Derry for 15 years.

“They’re such humble and hard working people, and fiercely loyal. The two boys were best friends who did everything together.

“I’ve been to many wakes in my time but I don’t think I have ever been more affected by a tragedy.”

Mr Durkan said the boys had visited the lough before but had never gone into the water.

“They’d seen some of the local lads go in and presumed it was safe. The lake itself is very deceptive and locals would know this. The last drowning was 34 years ago. It was also a teenage boy.

“It’s almost as if there’s a shelf where it goes from walkable depth to where it just plummets very suddenly. The boys would not have been aware of this.

“One of the surviving four boys was taken to hospital as he went into the water trying to frantically rescue his friends. These boys were all so innocent.”

Police were called shortly after 6.25pm on Monday to reports of a number of people in difficulty in the water.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, police, fire service and air ambulance were dispatched to the scene.

One of the boys was taken from the water and transferred to Altnagelvin hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The second boy was pronounced dead at the scene after being recovered from the water after searches by Foyle Search and Rescue, and police divers.

Another boy was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries, which are not believed to be life-threatening.

“Enquiries are ongoing into this incident but we believe, at this stage, that this was a tragic drowning incident,” a senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officer said.

“Our thoughts are with the families of those affected.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed his sympathies to the families of the two boys. “Our hearts go out to their families. We can all imagine young people going out to enjoy a beautiful summer’s afternoon. And for it to end in such tragedy, people availing of and using a water amenity, which we’ve all done in our different times,” he told reporters in Monaghan.

St Columb’s principal Finbar Madden described “shock and sadness” within the school at the “heartbreaking loss of two of our incoming year 13 pupils”.

“No words can express the devastation that we feel as a school community, but first and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with both boys’ families, community and friends,” he said.

Tributes were also paid by Newbuildings Cricket Club, describing the boys as “two of the most well-mannered and lovely people”.

“It was an absolute pleasure to have [them] in our U15s last season,” they said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families & friends, survivors and the wider Kerala community.”

Mr Durkan noted: “The Kerala community is a very close-knit one with more [than] 250 families from southern India living here for a very long time. They really are like one big family, which is great in terms of support but it is also difficult because they’re all hurting. They do everything together and had just celebrated their harvest Onam festival on Saturday.”