2 ITI Students Drown In Koel River In Odisha’s Sundargarh; Bodies Fished Out

Rourkela: Two students of an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) died after they drowned while taking a bath in Koel river in Odisha’s Sundargarh district.

The deceased have been identified as Nitesh Mahato (21) and Aniket Bodra (19), both first year students of Budhubir ITI Rourkela.

While the body of Nitesh was recovered a few hours after both drowned in the river on Monday, that of Aniket was fished out by fire services personnel on Tuesday, reports said.

Sources said a group of eight students including Nitesh and Aniket from Bandhamundar area went to Mitkundri spot near Koel river for a picnic on Monday. Some of them went to take a bath in the river but Aniket slipped deep into the water and drowned.

In an attempt to save him, Nitesh jumped into the river but he was swept away by the strong water current.

On being informed, Jhirpani police reached the spot with fire personnel and started rescue operation. The body of Nitesh was recovered after a few hours, while Aniket was still missing.
As the search operation resumed on Tuesday, the body of Aniket was recovered. Both bodies have been sent for postmortem. Further investigation is underway.