BHUBANESWAR: A youth went missing while three others were rescued when they went on a country boat to take a dip in the Mahanadi river near Gopalpur under Banki police limits on Thursday afternoon.
Sources said four youths had come to visit a friend’s house in Banki area. The friends decided to take a bath in the river nearby. The group of five went into the river near Gopalpur on a country boat in the afternoon. After going a small distance, they got into the water not realising it was a deep point. As a result, four of them started drowning.
Fortunately, one of them knew swimming and he along with nearby locals on the banks managed to rescue three of their friends. But, one went missing.
On receiving information, rescue teams from Damapada and Banki fire stations rushed to the spot and a search operation was launched under the supervision of Athagarh assistant fire officer JK Dash. A team of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) was also brought in for the rescue operation. The missing youth is yet to be traced.
Sources said all the youths are in their 20s. The youth who is missing is about 25-year-old and a native of Dhenkanal district.