Three teenagers drown during ritual bath in Ganga in Patna

Patna, April 15 (SocialNews.XYZ) Taking a selfie during a ritual bath in the Ganga river turned fatal as three teenagers died in two different incidents in Patna while undertaking the activity, officials said on Friday.

The teenagers went to Ganga to take holy dip on the occasion of Satuan festival on Thursday.

The first incident was reported at Goraiya Sthan at Maner town in Patna district. A SDRF official said that 6 teenagers came to the river and four of them, identified as Ankul, Aditya, Guddu and Manna, went inside the water.

"While taking selfies, they probably did not realize the strong flow of water. When they started drowning in the river, a crossing boat managed to rescue two, Guddu and Manna while Ankul and Aditya were swept away in the strong flow of water," the official said.

A similar incident occurred at the bank of Ganga river near Dostnagar locality in Patna where Tinku Kumar, a resident of Lodipur, went there to take a holi bath on the occasion of Satual. He was also taking selfies in the deep water without realising the strong flow of water and was also swept away.

The SDRF team worked till late in the evening but they failed to fish out the dead bodies.

Satuan is a traditional festival of Bihar, celebrated here for good health during the summer session. In this festival, people used to take a dip in the river followed by consuming sattu (gram flour), and chutneys made of raw mangoes, onions, and salt. Some people also use pickles to enhance the taste. These low cost foods are very helpful in protecting people from heat waves, while being very popular among villagers during summer in particular.

Source: IANS