Bhubaneswar: In a tragic incident, two sisters drowned while taking bath in a pond in Balasore district of Odisha today.

The incident took place at Kharasahapur village under Soro police limits in Balasore.

The deceased have been identified as Rajalaxmi (16) and Bhagyalaxmi (14), daughters of Manas Behera of Kharasahapur.

Rajalaxmi was a student of Class-X while her younger sister Bhagyalaxmi was in Class-VIII.

According to the villagers, the two sisters went together to a nearby pond to take bath around the noon. They drowned after they slipped their feet while bathing, villagers added.

As the two sisters did not return home, their family members launched a frantic search to trace them.

They started searching in the pond after duo’s sandals were found on the embankment.

The two minor sisters were later rescued from the pond and rushed to a hospital at Soro in a critical condition. However, the doctors declared them dead on arrival.

On being informed, officials of Soro police reached the spot and seized the bodies before sending them for postmortem.