3 engineers, two minor girls drown to death in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Angul, Aug 2:

Five persons, including two minor girls, drowned to death in two separate incidents in Odisha during the last 24 hours.

In the first of these two incidents, the bodies of three engineers were recovered from a pond near Bada Mahitala village under Nisha police station limits in Angul district early this morning.

The deceased, identified as Avtar Saroila of Patiala in Punjab, Samir Nigam of Indra Nagar in Uttar Pradesh and Manoj Yadav of Alwar in Rajasthan, were working in Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL).

Sources said the three engineers were having a feast near the pond last night. After dinner, the trio had gone inside the pond for a bath when they slipped into the deep waters and drowned.

The bodies were later taken to the JSPL hospital inside the plant premises.

The incident might have been taken place between 2 AM and 3 AM, police said.

However, the police, apprehending law and order situation, have refused the give any further details to the media.

Expressing shock at the sad demise of the three young engineers, JSPL said he would extend all possible help to the bereaved families besides fully cooperating with the police investigation in the case.

“We are completely shocked and shaken to get this information  on the accidental demise of three of our employees   outside the Plant area on Saturday night. The three employees hailing from UP, Punjab and Rajsthan,  died of drowning in the village pond,  three kms away from our Angul  Plant.  We express our deep condolence over the tragic incident and share our heartfelt grief with the bereaved families. Our first priority is handholding the bereaved families and organising for the cremation at the place of the family’s choice. We are fully cooperating with the Police for completion of legal process for handing over the bodies to the relatives for cremation,” a JSPL spkesperson said in a statement.

In the second incident, two minor girls of Bilagan village in Keonjhar district drowned to death while taking a bath in a pond today.

They were rushed the government hospital in Karanjia where doctors declared them dead.