Five boys drown in Ganga in Varanasi

Five teenage boys drowned in Ganga river here while taking a bath on Friday morning. Initial reports said that the boys were making a TikTok video when one of them slipped into the water while the others drowned while trying to save him. Divers were pressed into service to rescue the boys, whose bodies were later retrieved.

Varanasi: Five boys who had gone for a dip in the Ganga here without letting their families know drowned, police said on Friday.

The boys, aged between 14 and 17 had gone to Sipahiya Ghat, about a kilometre from their homes, along with two other friends, police said.

Police pulled out the boys from the river with the help of divers and took them to a trauma centre, where all five were declared dead.

However, PRO Sanjay Tripathi in the SSP office denied this and said that they had waded into deep waters and drowned.

The bodies were taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Ram Nagar where the doctors declared all the five as brought dead.

The deceased have been identified as Tausif, 19, Fardeen, 14, Saif ,15, Rizwan,15, and Saki, 14.

They all had left home on one pretext or other without letting their family members know of their actual plans, said police.

The teenagers first made a Tik Tok video on the river bank before taking the plunge, during which one of them began drowning and in a bid to rescue him, four others too drowned, police said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the incident. He has asked senior officials to provide relief to the family members of the deceased.

(IANS REPORT)