3 drown in Sone river in Bhojpur, 3 rescued

Patna: Two teenagers and a youth drowned while bathing in the Sone river near Andhari village under the Chauri police station area in Bhojpur district on Sunday. Three others were rescued by locals and are undergoing treatment.

According to police, six friends from the village had gone to the river to bathe. While two remained near the bank, four ventured into deeper waters. One of them started drowning, prompting two others to jump in to rescue him. All three were swept under and drowned.

The victims were identified as Harshit Kumar, 14, Nitish Kumar, 19 and Nikhil Kumar, 17. Nitish was a college student while Nikhil and Harshit were school students. Shivam Kumar, Pankaj Kumar and Prince Kumar were rescued.

Locals and divers launched a rescue operation and pulled the victims out before rushing them to Arwal Sadar Hospital, where three were declared dead.

Residents alleged that two of the victims died on the way to hospital after a traffic jam delayed medical assistance. Angered by the deaths and the alleged delay, villagers blocked the Ara-Arwal main road near the Sahar-Arwal Son bridge. Traffic remained disrupted for nearly three hours during the protest.

Chauri SHO Subodh Kumar reached the spot with police personnel, pacified the protesters and restored traffic movement.

“The bodies were handed over to the families after post-mortem examination. The local administration has been requested for assistance and relief to the deceased’s families,” the SHO said.