A total of 26 people have lost their lives in drowning incidents during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period, police stated.

Among the victims were a private tuition teacher and an Advanced Level student who drowned last afternoon at the Nallachchiya Wewa in Thambuttegama. The duo had entered an irrigation canal around 3:30 p.m. when they were suddenly caught in a current and swept nearly 300 meters downstream.

Bystanders who were bathing nearby responded quickly to pull the two from the water and rushed them to the Thambuttegama Base Hospital. However, both were pronounced dead on admission, police noted.

One of the victims has been identified as a 29-year-old tuition teacher from Ikiriwewa. The other was an Advanced Level student from a prominent school in Anuradhapura.

In a separate incident, a six-year-old girl died after falling into a swimming pool at a hotel in Dampe, Piliyandala during a New Year gathering attended by several families.

Witnesses reported noticing a dark object in the deep end of the pool before realizing the child was submerged. She was immediately pulled out and rushed to the hospital, but succumbed on admission.

Police stated that the mother of the deceased child is currently overseas and that she had been living under the care of her paternal aunt.

Meanwhile, officers from the Anuradhapura Police Lifesaving Unit successfully rescued a 27-year-old man who was struggling in the waters of Tissa Wewa after entering an unsafe area.

In another development, lifeguards recovered the body of a youth who was swept out to sea while bathing off Bentota beach earlier today. He has been identified as a third-year student of the University of Moratuwa.

Authorities are urging the general public to exercise extreme caution when bathing in reservoirs, canals, and coastal areas, particularly during the festive season when such incidents tend to rise.