Bhubaneswar: The bodies of two students, who had reportedly gone missing after being swept away by the strong currents of the Mahanadi River near Dhobapada Ghat under Khetrajpur police station limits in Sambalpur on Friday, have been recovered from Samaleswari Ghat on Saturday.
The deceased have been identified as Kanisk Kanit and Himanshu Singh, Class IX students.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 4 pm when the two students, both residents of Tiwari Gali and Class IX students, were taking a bath in the river.
Locals initially mistook them for fishermen but soon alerted the police, who promptly informed the Fire brigade personnel. A six-member team from the Fire Department rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
The fire brigade team failed to trace the bodies despite searching till late at night. This morning, the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team from Jharsuguda arrived with fire brigade personnel and resumed the search operation for the two students. Two bodies were recovered from Samaleswari Ghat.
