Eight people, including seven girls, drowned at two places during the ‘Karma Puja’ festival in Jharkhand’s Latehar district on Saturday. The incident is from Bukru village of Sheregada Panchayat of the district.
Deputy commissioner Abu Imran said the deceased had gone to the pond for immersion after Karma Puja, a major festival in Jharkhand.
Imran said the district’s deputy development commissioner Shekhar Verma has been asked to investigate the drowning of seven girls, aged between 12 and 20, in Bukru.
A group of 10 girls from the village along with ‘Karam Dali’ had gone for immersion in the pond when two of them drowned and started shouting for help. Hearing the cries, the villagers ran to save them, but could not save them all.
Palamu range commissioner Jatashankar Choudhary said the incident took place during the immersion of ‘Karam Dali’ and the bodies of the girls who drowned while trying to save each other were sent to Latehar district hospital. Three other girls are undergoing treatment.
“Four girls died on the spot, while three others breathed their last on the way to Balumath CHC,” officials told PTI.
The dead included three sisters Rekha Kumar (18), Reena Kumari (16) and Aklu Ganju’s daughters Lakshmi Kumari (12).
The others have been identified as Charan Ganjhu’s daughter Sushma Kumari (12), Jagan Ganjhu’s daughter Pinky Kumari (18), Fifa Ganju’s daughter Sunita Kumari (20), Laldev Ganju’s daughter Basanti Kumari (12) and Suraj (10). happened. Son of Yashwant Vishwakarma.
After the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind offered their condolences.
“Shocked by the death of youth due to drowning in Latehar district of Jharkhand. Condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief,” the PMO tweeted.
“I am deeply saddened to hear about the death of many girls in the tragic accident that took place during Karam Dali immersion in Latehar, Jharkhand. In this hour of grief, I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved family members,” President Kovind said in a tweet.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has also expressed grief over the incident.
Shocked to hear about the death of seven girls due to drowning during ‘Karam Dali’ immersion at Sheregada in Latehar district. May God rest the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved families to bear this loss. Soren said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, angry villagers in Bukru blocked the Balumath-Chatra Road-National Highway 98 alleging that the incident happened due to the widening of the pond for digging.
The blockade could be lifted late in the evening only after a senior officer assured him of compensation. ₹4 lakh each for families of seven girls.
Karma in Jharkhand is a major festival related to the worship of nature and is celebrated with great enthusiasm, mostly by the tribals.
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