ROURKELA: Two students participating in a summer internship at the National Institute of Technology - Rourkela (NIT-R) drowned in the Brahmani river near Vedvyas temple on Saturday afternoon. Three other students were rescued.
NIT-R registrar Rohan Dhiman identified the deceased as Rajat Sahu from Balasore district and Samiran Sukumar Nayak from Bhubaneswar, both BTech students at Sambalpur University Institute of Information Technology (SUIIT). The incident occurred during a pleasure trip to Vedvyas.
A group of six students from SUIIT, VSS University of Technology (VSSUT), and SOA University (SOAU) were at NIT-R for Summer Internship programme 2024. They went visiting a temple and were subsequently taking a bath in the river when the mishap occurred, he further informed.
Rajat and Samiran drowned while two male and one female student were rescued by locals. Another female student, who stayed out of the water, fell ill from shock.
The rescued students, identified as Abhilipsa Pradhan and Baishnu Devi of VSSUT, Sambedan Sahoo of SUIIT, and Tapan Patra of SOAU, are stable and admitted to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH).
Prof Dhiman said Rajat and Samiran were declared brought dead at the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH), while Abhilipsa, Baishnu, Sambedan and Tapan were admitted to the RGH and are stated to be stable. The bodies have been preserved at the RGH morgue and would be sent for autopsy after arrival of their family, he added.
Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak met the students admitted at the RGH. He expressed grief and shock at the unfortunate death of two students.
“In recent past, a series of drowning incidents have taken place in Brahmani and Koel rivers. I will draw the attention of Sundargarh collector Parag Harshad Gavali to display warning boards with information of past incidents at drowning-prone areas to caution people,” Nayak said.