Gorakhpur: In tragic twin accidents reported from Uttar Pradesh, at least three persons including two children drowned to death while two others are missing in the Saryu river in Gorakhpur district of the state on Tuesday evening, an official said.
Both the incidents took place in the Badhalganj police station area of the district on Tuesday evening. Sources said that in the first incident a boat carrying about 13 people capsized in the river at Madrahan Ghat. A woman drowned to death in this accident, whose body was later recovered by the locals. The locals also saved 10 other people but the boatman and another woman are still missing. They are being searched for by the rescuers.
In the second incident which also took place within the same police station limits, two minor children died by drowning while bathing in the Saryu river near Musadohi village.
The two children- a boy and a girl were part of a group of eight children bathing in the river when they were overwhelmed by the strong water currents and drowned in the river. To rescue them, their other six friends went into deep water, due to which they also started drowning. After this, hearing the screams of the children, the people present nearby rescued the six children while the bodies of the deceased children were also recovered from the river.
The police have sent the bodies of both the children for postmortem. They have been identified as Pankaj (12) and Nisha (13). Nisha had come to her maternal home, while the deceased Pankaj hails from the same village.
The twin incidents have triggered a wave of shock and grief in the area.
