20 drown in Bihar on Kartik Purnima

PATNA/BIHARSHARIF: At least 20 people drowned and five others were missing while taking a bath in different rivers and village ponds in the state on Kartik Purnima on Tuesday.


The maximum four deaths were reported from Nalanda district. A report from Biharsharif said three minor girls drowned in Sakri river.

Among the three, Sonu Kumari (15) and Anshu Kumari (17) were daughters of Ajay Singh. The third, identified as Priti Kumari (15), was the daughter of Dilip Singh. The victims belonged to Ghosrawan under Pawapuri police outpost area in Nalanda district. In another incident, one Priyanka Kumari (15) drowned while taking bath in a village pond at Makan under Noorsarai police station area in Nalanda district. Noorsarai SHO Abhay Kumar said the body was sent to Biharsharif hospital for postmortem.

In Sitamarhi, Rahul Jha (26), Prakash Mishra (25) and Deepak (27) drowned in Bagmati river at Bairgania. The body of Prakash was fished out by the SDRF divers, who were pressed into service. One Sudhanshu Mishra (27) was rescued and has been admitted to the local hospital in serious condition. Bairgania SHO Gaurishankar Baitha said two other persons, named Rahul and Deepak, were still missing. “The rescue operation has been suspended due to darkness. It will resume on Wednesday morning,” he told this newspaper over phone.

Similarly, two girls and a teacher drowned in a pond at Sekhodevra under Kauwakol police station area in Nawada district. Avinash alias Rakesh Singh (35), a teacher of government school at Jamui , drowned while trying to save Anuradha (18) and her friend Shilpi (18), who had slipped into deep water in the pond. All the bodies were recovered and sent to Nawada sadar hospital for postmortem.

A report from Muzaffarpur said two minor children, including a girl, drowned in the Budhi Gandak at Sangham Ghat under Ahiyapur police station area of the district. The victims were identified as Rahul Kumar (10) and Sanjana Kumari (12) of Dadar in Muzaffarpur district.

In East Champaran, Kundan Kumar (19) and Sonu Kumar (18) were feared drowned in Narayani Gandak while taking a bath. While Sonu belonged to Madhuban, Kundan was a resident of Dumaria Ghat in East Champaran district. The bodies were yet to be recovered.

In Patna, a 20-year-old youth drowned in the Ganga at Danapur Kutchehry Ghat while two others drowned at Khajekalan in Patna City. Another person drowned in at Ghoswari Ghat at Bakhtiyarpur in Patna rural while two persons drowned at Rawal Ghat in Saran district.

(With inputs from Farrukh Nadim in Biharsharif)