BERHAMPUR: In a tragic incident, two college girls drowned after being swept away by a strong tidal wave while bathing in the sea at Aryapalli in Ganjam’s Chhatrapur block on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Swapna Rani Pandit and Pragyan Rani Tripathy. Both the girls were 20 years of age and Plus Two students. Swapna belonged to Kanisi area while Pragyan was from Harikrushnapur village in Seragarh block.
Sources said Swapna and Pragyan had gone to Aryapalli on Wednesday to witness a local festival. At around 7 am on Thursday, the duo along with three other local girls went to the beach nearby to take a bath. While enjoying the water, all of them were swept away by a strong wave. Hearing their screams, locals rushed in and managed to rescue four including Swapna. However, Pragyan could not be traced. The girls were rushed to Chhatrapur hospital where doctors declared Swapna brought dead.
Local police and fire services personnel besides the coast guard and a team of ODRAF jointly launched a search operation to trace Pragyan. The coast guard also engaged a helicopter for around two hours to find the girl. Later in the evening, Pragyan’s body was retrieved.