In a painful note to the Boita Bandana (boat sailing) celebrations on the Kartik Purnima on Wednesday, six children, two each in Jajpur, Kendrapada and Baleswar districts, met with their watery grave.
Two girls belonging to Shankuntalapur village of Jajpur drowned after they slipped into the Genguti river water when they had gone to float boats to celebrate the occasion. Their bodies were fished out of the water.
In the other incident, two more children at Jahnimula village in Kendrapada district drowned in a pond when they had gone to float boats early morning.
Similarly, two children, siblings, died due to drowning in a village pond in Khantapara when they had gone to float paper boats. The deceased were identified as Chinmoy Jena (7) and his younger brother Mrutyunjay Jena (3), sons of Maheswar Jena of village Gandasanga. Their bodies were fished out by firefighters.