A minor girl, aged 14, went missing and three minor boys were rescued after they were swept away while bathing in the Brahmani river at Rourkela in Sundargarh district of Odisha on Saturday.
The missing girl has been identified as Puja.
Sources said the rescued boys are all out of danger. All those involved in the incident are residents of Panposh Padhi Colony, which is not far from the river.
As per reports, the foursome had gone to the river in the afternoon. While enjoying their bath, they slipped on the rocks and were swept away in the current.
Seeing the children drowning, some villagers raised an alarm and called up the Fire Brigade. The villagers too came to the children’s rescue immediately and managed to fish out the three boys within few minutes after the incident. Later, fire personnel reached the spot and joined the villagers in the search and rescue operation to trace the missing girl.
Sources said that the three boys, who know swimming, managed to keep them afloat before they were rescued by the villagers as the water level in the river is low and the current is also slow.
At the time of filing this report, the search operation was still going on.
After the incident, a pall of gloom descended on the locality.