Patna: Two children remain missing after being swept away by strong currents in the Ganga river while bathing at Bhadra Ghat in Patna City on Monday morning. The incident occurred in the Alamganj police station area, where five children from the Badi Patan Devi Colony had gone to bathe.
Three of the children were rescued by personnel from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), but two others — identified as Shivam Kumar, 16, and Pawan Kumar, 17 — could not be located. Both are residents of Badi Patan Devi Colony. Shivam is the son of Advocate Mahato, and Pawan is the son of Ranjan Kumar.
As of late Monday, three teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were continuing search operations in the river, though no trace of the missing boys had been found more than four hours after the incident.
SSB officer Ajit Singh Jadeja said the Ganga’s water level is currently high and the current is extremely strong, making bathing in the river dangerous. “Despite warnings, people continue to ignore safety instructions. Such incidents are the result of negligence,” he said.
In response, local authorities have stationed SDRF teams at several ghats and set up barricades in multiple locations. Alamganj police confirmed that the five children, aged between 12 and 17, had gone to bathe early in the morning when they were caught in the current.
Family members of the victims rushed to the ghat upon receiving news of the incident.
