TOPOCK – On Sunday, August 3, at approximately 2:15 p.m., Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Division of Boating Safety received a call of a drowning incident in progress. The reporting party indicated that they had been flagged down by another boat and told that two men had gone underwater and had not resurfaced at a beach area near the Topock Gorge.
Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrived first on scene and deployed a diver. MCSO deputies arrived on scene while the diver was in the water. The diver was able to locate and retrieve one of the missing men. Deputies began life-savings measures and transported the male to the water safety center. MCSO remained on scene and the diver was able to locate and recover the other missing man. Life-savings measures were performed, and he was also transported to the water safety center. Both men were transported to the Colorado River Medical Center in Needles but were ultimately pronounced deceased. The victims have been identified as Anoop Gankidi, 32 of Tempe, and Venkata Mukkaala, 32 of Milpitas, CA.
Further investigation revealed that the rental pontoon had been parked on a beach along the river at the time of the incident. All five occupants of the boat had entered the water to cool off when three of them slipped underwater and began to struggle. One of the occupants was able to get back to the shallow area, however Gankidi and Mukkaala did not resurface. The two victims had been underwater for approximately 20 minutes when divers arrived on scene and were located in approximately 12 feet of water. Impairment is not a factor in this incident. This investigation is ongoing.
