Prayagraj: Four teenage boys drowned while three others were rescued after they were swept away by a strong current in the Ganga at Bampur village in the trans-Yamuna area on Friday, police said.DCP (Yamuna Nagar) Vivek Chandra Yadav told TOI that a group of seven boys– Mohit (13), Divyanshu (16), Aman (9), Kunal (12), Nihal (10), Deepak (17) and Rishabh (10)– went to the Ganga ghat near the village at around 11am on Friday for swimming. However, due to the strong current in the river, all of them started drowning. A group of swimmers and boatmen present there managed to rescue three– Mohit, Divyanshu and Aman. However, Kunal, Nihal, Deepak and Rishabh drowned by the time help arrived. Police, with the help of swimmers, fished out the bodies and sent them for postmortem. The incident triggered panic in the village, with hundreds gathering at the ghat. A heavy police force was deployed to maintain order. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the incident and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.He also directed officials to immediately reach the spot and ensure proper relief and rescue operations, according to an official statement issued in Lucknow.
