5 children swept away by flooded river in Latehar, two drown
LATEHAR: Five children were swept away by the flooded Oranga River in the Betla National Park area of Jharkhand’s Latehar district. In the process, two died while three somehow managed to survive and got out of the turbulent waters.
The incident happened at a location known as Asur Bandh on the Oranga River that flows through near Palamu Fort in reserve forest area on Tuesday, but the matter came to light on Wednesday when villagers found the bodies stuck in the bushes on a rocky river bed near Checheya.
The deceased were identified as Nazib Haider (11) and Yakib Raja (9) and both hailed from the Betla locality of the Barwadih block of Latehar district.
According to villagers, the duo had left with three others on Tuesday.
“Three others returned soon after the incident but the duo did not return. We started searching for them but couldn’t find any trace. In the wee hours on Wednesday, dead bodies of both
THE MATTER CAME TO LIGHT WHEN VILLAGERS FOUND THE BODIES STUCK IN THE BUSHES ON A ROCKY RIVER BED NEAR CHECHEYA
were found from the river bed,” informed Firoj Ansari, father of Nazib.
The locals informed that the bodies could have swept miles away and might not have been retrieved had they not been struck in the bushes on the river bed.
The Latehar sub divisional officer (SDO) Jai Prakash Jha also met the bereaved family members of both the children and assured all help as per the government norms.
The Barwadih police station officer-in-charge Dinesh Kumar said, “Both apparently drowned and the bodies were sent for autopsy.”