Engineer drowns while taking bath in waterfall

 Jajpur: In a tragic incident, two local youths, including an engineer, drowned while taking bath in a waterfall at Pahadkhol near Koil village under Sukinda police limits in Jajpur district on Saturday. While the body of one youth has been recovered, search is still underway for the other.

The deceased has been identified as Shambhu Pradhan (22) of Kanjiapal village in Lembo panchayat. The missing youth is Manas Mahanta, a B.Tech graduate from Bandhagaon-Koil village who is employed in Bengaluru.

According to reports, Shambhu, Manas and their friend, identified as Buturu Mahanta, went for a bath at the seasonal waterfall near their village around 10 am. Shambhu and Manas jumped into the water, but Buturu stayed back on the bank of the waterfall. When the duo did not return after a long time, Buturu immediately alerted family members and villagers.

On being informed, a team from Sukinda Fire Service rushed to the spot and managed to recover the body of Shambhu after an intense search. The operation proved difficult as their iron hook device got stuck in the deep pit beneath the waterfall.

Later, a team from Bhuban Fire brigade from Dhenkanal joined the rescue efforts. However, the body of Manas was yet to be retrieved. The search and rescue operation are still continuing.

The site of the tragedy lies in the Mahagiri hill range, under Sukinda forest division. The waterfall, which plunges nearly 300 feet into a deep and treacherous pit, has been identified as hazardous.

“Many youngsters, often inspired by social media reels, have been flocking to this dangerous spot to make reel for the last couple of years”, said Basudev Pradhan, a local. Local administration should put warning signage not to enter the waterfall, he added.

Sukinda police reached the site and are investigating the incident.