BHUBANESWAR: In an unfortunate incident, two minor boys were washed away in Kuakhai river on the outskirts of the City on July 25 morning. While, the locals rescued two other minor boys from the waterway. The deceased have been identified as Safique Digal (15) of Biseswar Basti and Jagmohan Sahoo (15) of Atmaram Basti in the City.
According to the preliminary investigation of Commissionerate Police, six children studying in Government Boys' High School in Unit IX met near Jaydev Vihar in the morning and decided to skip the classes and visit Kuakhai river.
The survivors have been identified as Debashish Rout, Aman Sahoo, Trilochan Nayak and Rakesh Nayak. All the six boys were wearing civilian dress beneath their school uniforms. After reaching Kuakhai river, the students removed the schools uniforms before venturing into the waterway. While, Safique, Jagmohan, Debashish, Aman and Trilochan ventured into the river for taking a bath, Rakesh stayed back and waited for his friends to return.
One of the survivors, Debashish, told this newspaper that Jagmohan was getting washed away in the strong current when they went to save him. "Safique, Aman and I grabbed each others hands and went to save Jagmohan, but the current was strong. We then called the fishermen there for help and one of them saved us," Debashish said.
While, a fisherman saved two children, one of the survivors managed to get to the river bank on his own. Odisha Fire Service personnel informed that they received information about the incident at about 10:53 am and they reached the spot in less than 20 minutes.
The fire service personnel launched a search operation and fished out the bodies of the two students after over two hours. The rescued children were handed over to their parents after writing an undertaking at Mancheswar Police Station.