Rourkela/Dhenkanal/Tirtol: Five ‘Bol Bom’ devotees were killed, while another went missing in separate mishaps in Sundargarh, Dhenkanal and Jagatsinghpur districts with the fourth Monday of the holy Shravan month proving fatal for them.
Four members of a family were killed after they were hit by Mumbai-Howarh Mail train while crossing the Panposh railway bridge on Brahmani river near the Steel City in Sundargarh district Sunday night. Three others of the family were injured in the incident, but are stated to be ‘out of danger.’
The four deceased killed in Rourkela train mishap were from Jashpur in neighbouring Chhatisgarh. The deceased were identified as Nilesh Das, his son Lucky Das, wife Jamuna Das and Nilesh’s father-in-law Ram Bharose. The two siblings Karan Das and Raghukrishna Das of Nilesh and their neighbour Sibratan Choudhury escaped death by a whisker.
According to reports, seven Bol Bam devotees had come to Rourkela from Chhattisgarh to pour holy water at Vedvyas Shiv temple.
They were crossing a railway bridge on Brahmani river here at 11.30PM when the train chugged in suddenly. Panicked devotees budged to the sides of the railway track to avoid being hit, but only three of them succeeded.
The remaining four fell into the river after being hit by the train and died. The bodies were recovered and sent for autopsy while a case of unnatural death was registered in this connection.
In the second incident, a Kanwariya fell down from the Kapilash hill shrine and was killed, while another went missing while collecting holy water from Mahanadi river under Tirtol block in Jagatsinghpur district.
In a separate incident, a Kanwariya Debendra Jena (30), a resident of Mahanga police limits in Cuttack district, fell down from Kapilas hill and was rendered critical while climbing the hill shrine at 9AM Monday. He was rushed to the district headquarters hospital where the doctors pronounced him ‘brought dead.’
Missing devotee
Meanwhile, one Kanwariya went missing and another was rescued while picking up holy water at Poshal ghat of Mahanadi river near the Jhula Baba mutt in Tirtol of Jagatsinghpur district Monday morning.
The youths were collecting water when they slipped into the river.
The rescued youth, who has been identified as Saroj Nath, is undergoing treatment at Manijanga government hospital. The missing person has been identified as Siddhartah Das from Mohammedabad village under Tirtol block.
The rescue operation by the fire department personnel was still underway when the last report came in.
PNN
