RANCHI: At least 15 people died of drowning during the Chhath Puja celebrations across Jharkhand, observed on Monday and Tuesday. Reports indicate that most of the victims drowned while offering prayers or bathing in ponds and rivers.
In a recent incident, four girls, belonging to the same family, drowned in a pond at Jhardag village under the Shahpur Panchayat of Katkamsandi in Hazaribagh. The incident occurred in the afternoon following the Chhath Puja.
According to locals, the girls had gone to the nearby pond to wash clothes after the Chhath Puja. While washing clothes, one of the girls fell into the pond. While trying to save her, one by one, all four girls fell into the deep pond and passed away on the spot.
The deceased include Rinki Kumari (16), Pooja Kumari (20), Sakshi Kumar (16), and Riya Kumari (14).
Police sources informed that five children also drowned on Monday, taking the total toll from drowning incidents during the festival to 15.
Several others, including a minor boy and two men, were reported missing after being swept away in separate incidents.
Those who lost their lives include two girls — Gungun Kumari (11) and Rupa Tiwari (12) — who drowned in a village pond at Bela under the Keredari police station area in Hazaribagh on Sunday evening while performing Chhath rituals.
Similarly, in Garhwa, a 13-year-old Rahul Kumar drowned in the Danro River on Monday afternoon while taking a bath. Rahul, reportedly, went deep into the river and was pulled under by the current.
He was rescued by the locals and taken to Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Whereas in Simdega, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Mayangsor village under Bano police station areas was drowned in a bucket of water inside her home on Monday. The incident occurred when her grandmother went to another room for a few minutes. After returning, she found the child submerged in the bucket.
Another case of drowning took place in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, where a 14-year-old boy, Aryan Yadav, drowned in the Subarnarekha River near Saherbera under Chandil police station on Monday evening after offering ‘arghya’ during Chhath Puja.
According to police, Aryan ventured into a danger zone and started drowning.
Two others — Prateek Kumar Yadav, 19, and Sanjay Singh, 45, jumped in to save him but went missing. Aryan’s body was recovered by NDRF and local divers, while search operations for the two missing men will resume on Tuesday morning.
In Palamu, a 16-year-old boy also went missing after jumping into a canal near Chaura bridge in Bishnupur village under Hussainabad police station on Monday.
Earlier, on Sunday evening, three children drowned in Simdega district, and three others lost their lives in similar incidents in Palamu.