Patna: Two youths drowned while bathing in the Ganga river during the ‘arghya’ ritual on the fourth day of Chhath Puja celebrations at Damrahi Ghat in Patna City on Wednesday morning, while a third youth went missing.The deceased have been identified as Ganesh Kumar (18) and Rohit Kumar (19), both residents of Hanuman Nagar, Kankarbagh police station area. The police identified the missing youth as Shibu (18). On receiving the information, the Malsalami police, along with the SDRF team, rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation. They fished out two bodies and searched for the missing youth.Malsalami SHO Sunil Kumar said the incident took place around 7am, when a large number of devotees gathered at Damrahi Ghat for the Chhath festival. “The three youth, all from Kankerbagh area, went to take a holy bath in the river. They all crossed the safety barricading put up by the administration and, due to the river’s significant depth and strong current, they lost their balance and started drowning.In another incident, an 18-year-old youth drowned in a pond at Surya Mandir Ghat in Patna’s Daniyawan police station area on Wednesday morning while participating in the final ‘arghya’ offering of Chhath Puja. The deceased has been identified as Akash Kumar, son of Akhilesh Yadav, a resident of Chhoti Kewai village under Shahjahanpur police station.
