Odisha: Minor saves one from drowning, 2 more missing
KENDRAPARA : A 22-year-old youth had a second chance at life after being saved from drowning by a minor boy, in Brahmani river near Pattamundai Rural’s Nimapur village here on Saturday. Two other persons who were also reportedly washed away by the strong water currents, are yet to be traced.
Pattamundai Rural IIC Padmalaya Pradhan said Badal Kumar along with two others - Ajit Kumar (20) and Javed Khan (20), all belonging to Tundla in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district, had come to Pattamundai for some work. On the day, the trio went to the river for bathing when they got swept away, he added.
On hearing their screams, 10-year-old Rudraprasad Mallick who was washing clothes by the river along with his mother, cast a saree into the water body and managed to save Badal. However, by that time Ajit and Javed were already carried away by the river.
Narrating the incident, the boy said, “I heard the youths screaming and immediately cast my mother’s saree into the river grabbing which one of them managed to swim to the bank.”
Meanwhile, fire service personnel and local fishermen have initiated search operation to trace the other youths but they are yet to be found. “Chances of their survival are slim as the water currents are quite strong,” the IIC said.
Jagannath Acharya, a local resident said the river has a deep pit immediately after one enters into it. “This could be the main reason behind the mishap,” he added.