We regret to inform you that Sasi Sekhar Kunta, 26 yrs, a Ph. D student at University of Vermont passed away in a swimming accident on Saturday, June 5th in Burlington City. Sasi, native of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, did his masters in BITS Pilani and joined University of Vermont in 2008 to do his PhD in in computer science.
On Saturday, June 5ht around 7:15 PM, Sasi who had been swimming with his friends drowned after jumping off the Burlington bike-path footbridge in to the Winooski River. Burlington Fire department, Colchester Technical Rescue, the US Coast Guard and bystanders conducted the search but couldn't find him since it was already dark and the visibility was very poor. The team continued the search on Sunday morning from 5:30 AM and found Sasi’s body around 8:30 AM near the bridge. Burlington Police detectives are investigating the case and don’ t suspect any foul play.
Mohan Nannapaneni, TANA Secretary, several other TANA Team square members and his friends are working with the University of Vermont authorities to send the deceased to Vijayawada as soon as possible.
Jayaram Komati, TANA President and Prasad Thotakura, executive Vice-President expressed their shock and dismay in losing an young and bright student in a freak accident. They cautioned all especially International students to get familiar with their surroundings and follow the guidelines that were posted on www.tana.org to avoid these unfortunate incidents. Jayaram Komati on behlaf of TANA members expressed deepest condolences to the Kunta family.
