Katni(Madhya Pradesh): Five minor boys drowned in a river situated in the village Devra-Kurd during a picnic on Monday in Katni district, police said on Tuesday. CM tweeted and expressed his grief about the incident.
The incident took place on Monday evening when the children, aged between 13 and 15 years, went to the Garra ghat on the Katni river banks.
They drowned probably while taking a bath in the river, a rescue team official said.
When the boys did not return home, their family members launched a search. They found the children's clothes at the ghat and alerted authorities, Katni Collector Priyank Mishra said.
Rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Emergency Response Force rushed to the spot.
The whole night the rescue operation was conducted and due to improper light and night, the operation was stranded for a while. The operation started again in the early morning of Tuesday.
All five bodies were fished out of the river by Tuesday morning, the official said. They are identified as Mahpal Singh (15), Surya Vishwakarma (15) Sahil Chakarvaerti (15) Ayush Vishwakarma (13), and Anuj Soni (13)
The government will provide assistance of Rs four lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, as per the rules, he said.
In his tweet, the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated “Heart is filled with immense pain due to the untimely demise of innocent children due to drowning in the Garra Ghat of Katni river. I am with the bereaved families in this time of grief. I pray to God to give peace to the departed divine souls and give strength to the family members to bear this irreversible loss”.
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