Bhubaneswar: A person drowned while rescuing his eight-year-old son from the Mahanadi river in Jagatsinghpur district on Sunday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Ishwar Barik of Nimidhihi village.
The incident took place near Bhutamundai on the outskirts of Paradip, where a group of around 30 Kanwariyas had gathered to collect holy water for the first Monday of Shravan Sawan.
Ishwar had come to the river with his young son to collect water to offer water for the sake of Shravan Somwar. While they were collecting water, a pot drifted into the strong current. The boy went after it, slipped into the river and began drowning. Seeing his son in danger, Ishwar immediately jumped into the river. He managed to pull the child to safety but was himself swept away by the powerful current and drowned.
Personnel from the Kujang Fire Services rushed to the spot and launched a search operation.
After an extensive search, Ishwar’s body was recovered from the river. The boy, who was in a critical condition, was shifted to Kujang Medical and is now reported to be fully recovered.
