11 drown in Bihar during Chhath rituals

Patna: Chhath festivities turned tragic when 11 people died during the “nahay-khay” rituals across the state. Three youths from the same family died due to drowning in the Ganga River while taking a bath in the Fatuha area of Patna district on Saturday on the occasion of Chhath Puja.

The victims were identified as Saurav Kumar (19), son of Pintu Yadav, his cousin Sonu Kumar (18), son of Awadhesh Yadav, and their nephew Guddu Kumar (15), son of Dilip Kumar, all residents of Govindpur Paschim Tola. The incident took place around 11 am at Govindpur Ghat under the Khusrupur police station area when the trio went to the banks of the river and cleaned it for the Nahay Khay rituals.

After cleaning, they went to bathe in the river. One waded deep into the water and began drowning. While trying to save him, two more drowned and were swept away by the current.


After receiving information about the accident, the SDRF and a local diving team arrived at the scene. A search for the three young men began. After considerable effort, the bodies of all three were pulled from the water.

Meanwhile, two young men and three teenagers drowned while preparing a ghat on the Bagmati River at Akhta Ghat in the Supi police station area on Saturday afternoon. One of the young men and one teenager were rescued safely. The deceased include 17-year-old Sahil Upadhyay and Dhananjay Upadhyay (15), sons of Rajkishore Upadhyay. Their cousin, Piyush Upadhyay (18), son of Harikishore Upadhyay, is still missing.

In a separate incident, Ghanshyam Kumar, an 18-year-old youth who went to fetch water for Chhath Puja at Kagan Ghat in Patna City, has gone missing. Upon receiving the information, the SDRF team immediately arrived at the scene and launched a search operation. Anju Devi, a resident of Jagdish Park, Begumpur, had gone to Kangan Ghat with her son Ghanshyam to collect water for "bathing and eating" on the first day of Chhath Puja. According to eyewitnesses, Ghanshyam entered the Ganges River and was suddenly swept away by the strong current.

A minor boy drowned in a river in Sultanpur village, under the Deshari police station area in Vaishali district. The deceased was identified as Ranveer Paswan, son of local Panchayat Samiti member Dharamraj Paswan. Locals said Ranveer entered Ganga river with his younger brother to take a bath. Both of them started drowning. Devotees and locals nearby pulled Ranveer's brother to safety, but Ranveer could not be saved.

Two boys died after drowning in the river while cleaning the ghat in Jamui district. According to the villagers, some youths of the village went to clean the Chhath Ghat when two drowned. The deceased were identified as Chin Das (18) and Satish Kumar (19), both from Bijaiya village in the Charkapathar police station area.

In Banka, four minors drowned in the Patvai Chandan River in the Vishanpur Panchayat of the Amarpur police station area while constructing a Chhath Ghat. Piyush Kumar (16) of Manjhgayan village died in the incident. Bittu Kumar alias Mantun Das, Nitesh Das, and Vikas Das were rescued by locals.

A 27-year-old man drowned in the Ganga River in Shivnagar Diara, under the Balia police station area of Begusarai district. People at the ghat said the young man was bathing after cleaning the ghat at 1 pm when the incident took place. During the incident, he went into deep water and drowned. The deceased has been identified as 27-year-old Mukesh Kumar of Pranpur Ward No. 13, under the Bakhri police station area of Begusarai district.