Jagatsinghpur: Four youths drowned during Ganesh idol immersion in the Brudha river in Jagatsinghpur district on Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred near Pandua Gopalapur under Erasama police station when the youths from Ornal village went to the river in the afternoon to immerse the idol.
According to available information, the four were swept away by a strong current while carrying out the immersion. Local people managed to rescue two of them and rushed them to the Erasama Community Health Centre, where doctors declared them dead.
A fire brigade team and police personnel launched a search operation for the other two missing youths. Their bodies were subsequently recovered from the river, taking the death toll to four.
The deceased have been identified as Sushil Palei, Manojit Swain, Swapnajit Barik and Rashmi Ranjan Nayak.
The incident cast a pall of gloom over Ornal village as grieving family members mourned the deaths amid the Ganesh festival celebrations.
