Tamil Nadu Student Dies in Birmingham Canal in UK, Family Alleges Foul Play – News18

An Indian student who was pursuing post-graduation at a university in the United Kingdom died after he was retrieved from a canal in Birmingham.

25-year-old Jeevanth Sivakumar from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, was pulled out of the Worcester and Birmingham canal at Matrons Walk, Selly Oak by police personnel in critical conditions on Wednesday, The Times of India said in a report.

The police spokesperson said that they pulled out Jeevanth from the canal and called for an ambulance, which arrived at the scene six minutes after the call.

The first ambulance was followed by a second ambulance, a paramedic officer, a specialist trauma doctor, critical care paramedic and other teams trained to provide life-saving medical care in challenging environments.

“On arrival, crews discovered one patient, a man, who had been pulled from the water by police colleagues and was in a critical condition. Ambulance staff immediately began providing advanced life-support. However, despite their best efforts, it sadly became apparent nothing could be done to save the man and he was confirmed dead at the scene,” a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.

Jeevanth stopped responding to treatment and died on the spot. The West Midlands Police said they are not treating the death as suspicious.

The report said that Jeevanth told his friends he was going to the library at 6 pm and when they asked him for dinner, he said he would come later. However, his phone was not available at midnight which is when his flatmates started to worry.

Jeevanth Sivakumar was doing a one-year full-time strategy and international business MSc at Aston University, Birmingham. He had studied BE in electrical, electronics and communications engineering at the Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology in Coimbatore.

He arrived in the UK in September last year and it was his first trip to Britain.

His family allege that there is a foul play behind his death and questioned why his body was found in a Birmingham canal.

“We received the information through the Indian embassy (sic) in England and we don’t know what the procedures are to bring the dead body to India. Friends of Jheevanth are updating us about the situation in Birmingham,” Rohan, Jeevanth’s brother reportedly said.

The Indian community is supporting the repatriation process to bring the body back to India.

“No one knows why he was by himself at the canal at that time of night. No one knows what happened. It is still being investigated,” Kishore Dattu, Indian National Students Association general secretary said.

The West Midlands Police are likely to send Jeevanth’s mortal remains only after the investigations commence.