Two boys drown during Ganpati idol immersion

Kanpur: Five persons drowned in river Ganga during Ganesh idol immersion at Pariyar Ghat in Safipur area of Unnao district, on Friday. Two among them died, while one is undergoing treatment at Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur.
Two others were discharged after the doctors found their condition to be normal.
Neelu and Abhishek Pandey, residents of Hamirdev village in Makhi police area of the district, had organised a Ganesh puja in the locality. After the culmination of Puja in the afternoon hours, scores of villagers in a tractor-trolley and four-wheelers left for Pariyar Ganga ghat for idol immersion.
During the immersion, Lavkesh (17), son of Jai Singh, Prashant (17), son of Shivnaresh Singh, besides three others, including one Vishal (16), son Ramkishore Seth, Abhishek, son of Ramswaroop and Sumit, son of Ramshankar, drowned. The villagers accompanying them, after a struggle, however, managed to pull out the five and rushed them to the Community Health Center in Safipur.
Doctors at the CHC, however, declared Lavkesh and Prashant brought dead. It was when Vishal’s condition became critical, the family members took him to Kanpur’s LLR Hospital.
Two other youths, including Sumit and Abhishek were however discharged after primary treatment.
“The shocking incident had occurred at the Pariyar Ghat during ganpati visarjan. Three among five people were saved. Two, however, died due to drowning. Bodies have been shifted for postmortem. Further investigations are underway,” said ASP Shashi Shekhar Singh. tnn