Jagatsinghpur: A 15-year-old boy drowned and two of his friends went missing Monday while taking bath in the Devi river under Balikuda police limits in this district. The deceased has been identified as Satyajit Barik, son of Khirod Barik of Ambashala, sources said. Among the two missing boys, one has been identified as Swabhiman Barik, the son of Manas Barik of Ambashala. The other boy is from Bhubaneswar, locals said, but were not able to give any details about his identy.
Villagers stated that Satyajit, a Plus-II student, along with three of his friends went to Machhagaon ghat of Devi river for taking a bath Monday morning. However, Satyajit and two others were swept away by strong currents, the villagers said.
Other present at the river bank promptly informed Balikuda fire brigade personnel and police. A rescue operation was launched and Satyajit was rescued in a critical condition. He was rushed to the Balikuda hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
“Two Plus-II students from Ambashala along with two of their friends who are from Bhubaneswar, went for taking bath in Devi river Monday morning. Three of them went missing in the river. The fire brigade personnel rescued one in a critical condition while two others are still missing. The rescued student was declared dead by the doctors at Balikuda hospital,” a police officer informed.
Search operations were still continuing at the time of filing this report. Fire brigade personnel however, informed that chances of survival of the two who have gone missing are very slim.