Hemgir/Udala/Chhatrapur: In a tragic series of incidents across Odisha, four people, including two brothers, an elderly woman and a 3-year-old child, died in separate drowning cases within 24 hours, while a teenage boy remains missing after being swept away in a river.
In Sundargarh district, two siblings drowned while bathing in a pond Friday evening at Chitkenadipatha village under Hemgir police limits.
The deceased were identified as Chitta Makar, 40, and Debashis Makar, 20. According to police, the brothers went missing after going for a bath.
When they failed to return home, their family filed a missing persons report.
A joint search operation by police and fi re services led to the recovery of their bodies around 10 pm Friday.
The bodies were sent to Hemgir hospital for autopsy.
Preliminary investigation confirmed accidental drowning. In a separate incident in Mayurbhanj district Saturday morning, a 3-year-old boy drowned in a pond near his house in Bisipur village under Udala police limits.
The child, identified as Himraj Singh, was playing near the pond unsupervised when he accidentally fell in. His mother discovered him floating and rushed him to Udala community health centre, where he was declared dead. In Ganjam district, a 17-year-old boy, Shubham Pradhan, went missing Saturday morning after reportedly being swept away in the Rushikulya river at Podapalli village under Mundamarai panchayat.
A student of Vedvyas College in Berhampur, Shubham, is suspected of having slipped while bathing. Search operations by fire service teams and local officials are ongoing.
Additionally, in Chhatrapur, a 65-year-old woman, identified as Manu Das of Arjunapalli village, died after slipping into a pond while bathing Saturday morning. She was rushed to Chhatrapur sub-divisional hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Police have registered a case of unnatural death and launched an investigation.
PNN
