4 more drown, 1 goes missing in separate incidents in Odisha districts

Barang/Paradip/Amarda/Soro/Sambalpur: As many as four persons drowned and one went missing in separate incidents in Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore, and Sambalpur districts, today.

The first incident was reported from Barang locality on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. A minor boy went missing while taking a bath in Kanpur-Puri main canal. The missing boy was identified as Class IX student Rajesh Sethi, who hails from Chandrasekharpur in the State Capital. Despite a frantic search, Rajesh was not traced till the time when this report was filed.

In the second incident, a 12-year-old boy identified as Rajkishore Rout, son of Jayant, drowned in a pond while taking a bath after Holi celebrations. The incident occurred at Katakula village on the outskirts of Paradip town. He had gone to the pond along with some of his friends and drowned.

The third incident was reported from Bagaldiha village under Amarda police limits in Balasore district. A 15-year-old youth drowned in a pond. He was identified as Dhananjay Barik, son of Sitikantha Barik. The boy had gone to take a bath in the pond along with his friends. He was fished out from the water by an ODRAF team and taken to hospital where doctors declared him ‘dead’.

In the fourth incident, a 10-year-old boy drowned in a pond at Madhusudanpur village under Soro civic limits in Balasore district. The minor was identified as Ayush Patra, son of one Manas Patra. After Holi celebrations, the boy had gone to a pond and drowned. He was the lone child of his parents.

Similarly, in the fifth incident, a youth identified as Pruthviraj Behera drowned in a canal at Chaunrpur. A team of fire services personnel rescued him in critical condition. Pruthviraj was rushed to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Sambalpur town, but he succumbed on the way.