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In a tragic incident, three members of a family were swept away while bathing in the Mahanadi river at Sambalpur on Monday. While the bodies of a man and his son were fished out on Monday, his minor daughter, who was missing since yesterday, was found today (Tuesday). However, she was declared brought dead at the hospital.
As per reports, while bathing near Dalaipada Ghat of the river at Sambalpur on Monday, the man, his son and daughter were swept away by the strong river current. A team of Fire service personnel rushed to the spot immediately after being informed and launched a rescue operation.
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Following hour-long searches, the bodies of the man and his son were found and fished out by the Fire service personnel on Monday. However, the rescue team failed to trace the girl. The rescue operation was halted at night and resumed in the morning today.
A Fireman, with the help of a scuba diver and local fishermen, found the body of the girl trapped in a tree which was around 500 meters away from the spot where the trio had slipped off. The girl was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. However, she was declared brought dead by the doctor.
"We could not find the body of the minor girl yesterday (Monday) which was a big challenge before us. We resumed the rescue operation again today (Tuesday) in the morning, but failed to locate her even after trying for 3-4 times. She was trapped in the branch of a tree which stood at a depth of around 40-50 ft in the river bed. After we went deep into the river and stirred the water, she got released from the tree branches and came up to the surface," said Gopabandhu Nayak, the scuba diver.
Meanwhile, Fireman Jitendra Kumar Biswal said, "The rescue operation was quite challenging as we had to trace the missing persons from the river having high current. The task became more daunting since the incident occurred near a forest area where the riverbed is rocky. Even the water level is uneven, making it difficult to find the protruding rocks. The scuba diver had to dive into a 50-ft ditch to locate the girl's body," he said.
