In a tragic incident, five persons, including a woman and her son, drowned in river Kalyani when they went to immerse the idol of Lord Ganesh on Sunday.
The villagers rushed in panic and informed the senior officers about the incident. A flood unit of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) along with five divers were pressed into action to search the drowned people. The villagers also put up a net hoping that the victims might get caught in it and rescued.
At the time of filing of this report, the body of one woman was recovered and search was on for others. Despite getting information, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) could not reach the spot from Lucknow.
According to reports, Narayan Dhar Pandey of Saadatganj in Masauli police station area of Barabanki had installed the idol of Lord Ganesh in his house for worship. On Sunday, he was going to immerse the idol in the river Kalyani along with family members and neighbours. With the river Kalyani overflowing due to the rains, the fields are filled with water for one kilometer. While trying to immerse the one-and-a-half-foot idol, 58-year-old Narayan Dhar Pandey and 20-year-old Dharmendra Kashyap suddenly drowned in the river. After this there was chaos and the 18-year-old son of Madan Patwa, also drowned while making efforts to save others. Later 35-year-old Nilesh Patwa also jumped to save his younger brother, and his mother Munni Devi also drowned while trying to save both of them by asking them to hold her sari. No one could move to save them.
MLA Sharad Awasthi and Superintendent of Police Yamuna Prasad reached the spot and instructed the subordinates to expedite the search for the drowned people. Circle Officer DK Dubey and Kotwal Sumit Srivastava were also present. The police started the search by calling five divers.
The villagers threw a net at a bridge in Rampur, however, to no avail. The flood unit of PAC started rescue from Rampur bridge as their boat could not reach due to narrow roads among the population. Superintendent of Police said that the body of Munni Devi was recovered and the search for others was on.
Meanwhile in another tragic incident in Basti, a woman and her two children were electrocuted on Sunday. According to reports, Maina Devi (27) a resident of Jamunijot hamlet of Dubulia in Basti was trying to put a plug of the fan on the switch board with her one-year-old son Prem in her lap on Sunday morning. Suddenly Maina Devi came in contact with a live wire and she and her son were electrocuted.
Seeing their mother and son collapse on the floor, Pallavi (6) and Chandni (8), both daughters of Maina, rushed to their rescue but both also came in contact with the live wire. While Maina, Pallavi and Prem died on the spot, Chandni was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.
A case was registered and bodies were sent for autopsy.