Idol immersion tragedy in Odisha: 2 students drown in Baripada today, 6 in a week

Baripada, Sept 17: Four days after two students drowned during Ganesha idol immersion in Baripada, two students lost their lives during Lord Biswakarma idol immersion in Kathapala check dam under Betnoti police limits on Tuesday.

The deceased students have been identified as Thakur Soren of Bhandan village in Badampahad area and Bhagya Prakash Patra of Badagan village under Tato area of the district.

According to the information, the +2 students were staying in a nearby hostel. While the teachers had gone to hospital with two female students due to their illness, a group of students including Bhagya and Thakur had gone to immerse the lord Biswakrma idol in the dam.

Initially, Bhagya slipped into the dip water and Thakur jumped for rescue. However, both were swept away by the strong currents.

Being informed, fire service personnel reached the spot and fished out the bodies of the students after three hours of search operation.

Worth noting, four days ago, four students who lived in a nearby hostel drowned during Ganesh idol immersion in Subarnarekha Canal near Laxmiposi of Baripada in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.  While two of them were rescued safely, the bodies of another two students were recovered after hours of frantic search.

Similarly, two minor boys drowned in a pond during the immersion of Lord Ganesh idol in Odisha’s Ganjam district last week. The incident took place at Panchama under Golanthara police station limits.