Raghunathpur: In a tragic incident, two minor girls of Safipur village under Babujang gram panchayat here met a watery grave while crossing Paika river to collect flowers for the worship of goddess Khudurukuni Sunday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Sujata, 17, the daughter of Dhirendra Das and Suman, 17, the daughter of Pradip Das of Safipur.
According to villagers, Sujata and Suman along with their friend Sunita planned to cross Paika river to collect flowers from a nearby village in the morning.
Sujata and Suman went missing in the river while crossing it. The villagers came to know about the incident when Sunita raised an alarm, sources said.
Soon some villagers reached the spot and launched a rescue operation. However, they could not find the two girls. Later, the bodies of Sujata and Suman were fished out from the river.
“The three minor girls were unaware of the depth of water in Paika river. Two girls drowned as they did not know how to swim. Suman was a Plus II first year student,” said a villager.
The bodies were consigned to flames after their post-mortem in a hospital in Cuttack. The incident caused much grief among the villagers.
On being informed, Cuttack Sadar MLA Chandra Sarathi Behera and BJP leader Dillip Mallick reached the village and consoled the bereaved families.