Two minors drown in Mahanadi

Bhubaneswar: In a tragic incident, two minors on Thursday died by drowning in the Mahanadi river near Jobra Anicut in Cuttack.

The deceased minors were identified as Soumya Ranjan Behera (14) and Srishanta Jena (17) of Naikula Sai in the Jobra area of Cuttack. A senior police official said six minor friends, including the deceased, had come to take bath in the Mahanadi river on Thursday.

He said four of them fortunately managed to get out of the water. However, the deceased minors got stuck in quicksand and couldn’t come out of the water.

“Upon being informed, police officials and fire services personnel reached the spot and engaged in the rescue operations.

The fire services personnel, after a more than one-hour search, fished out the duo from the Mahanadi river,” he said.

The official said they were later rushed to the SCB Medical College and Hospital, where the doctors declared them dead on arrival.

The locals alleged that several persons had lost their lives by drowning while taking bath at the particular spot, but the administration has yet to take any effective measures.