A joint funeral was held for two Indian-origin boys who drowned in a Northern Ireland lake as their college mates mourned the “exemplary young men”.
Reuven Simon and Joseph Sebastian, both aged 16, were out cycling on Monday but they got into difficulty while swimming at Lough Enagh in Londonderry.
A mass was held at St Mary’s Church in Ardmore on Friday according to the traditions of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Students of Derry’s St Columb’s College, which the boys from the Indian Keralan attended, formed a guard of honour outside the church.
College principal Finbar Madden said in his condolence message that the loss of the two incoming year-13 pupils was heart-breaking.
“No words can express the devastation that we feel as a school community,” the principal said and added, “our thoughts and prayers are with both boys’ families, community and friends”.
They were “exemplary young men” who “epitomised in every sense what it means to be a college boy”, he said.
He stated that the boys who were “mature beyond their years” had excelled in their recent GCSE examinations.
Madden said the boys who had joined the college in 2017 were “very close friends”.
“Whenever you met Joseph or Reuven, you were greeted with a warm and friendly smile. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that they had a large circle of friends and were deeply respected by their peers and those members of staff who were fortunate to have taught them,” he said.
“This will be a very difficult time for the whole St Columb’s College family,” Madden said.
At a candlelit vigil held at St Oliver Plunkett’s Church in Strathfoyle on Thursday, Reuvan’s uncle Jacob Mani said it was hard to accept the deaths of the boys who were studying together from primary school to college.
