Cuttack: A minor boy drowned in river Mahanadi near a temple in Odisha’s Cuttack district on Thursday.
As per reports, the 12-year-old boy, identified as Alexander Jagannath Prasad Nayak of Sasanga village under Baramba block in the district had gone to Bhattarika temple after his tuition in the morning. Before going to offer puja, he went to take bath in Mahanadi flowing near the shrine.
While bathing in the river, a strong current pulled him deep into the water. Though he shouted for help, the locals could not go to his rescue as Jagannath went missing.
On being informed by the locals, the Fire personnel rushed to the spot but could not launch the rescue operation in the deep waters for lack of requisite equipment. Later, with the help of Fire officials from Balijhari and Banki, they traced Jagannath and brought his body out of the river.
“Though we had reached the river bank within 10 minutes of getting the phone call, we could not start the rescue operation as the minor boy had been dragged by the current into deeper part of the river. We informed the Fire personnel of Balijhari and Banki who came with special scuba diving equipment and recovered the body,” a local TV channel quoted in-charge of Badamba Fire Services Nabaghana Mallik as saying.
