Tragic Chhath Puja Celebrations in Jharkhand: At Least 14 Drown and 2 Die in Accidents

Ranchi/Hazaribag/Jamshedpur/Ramgarh/Gumla: At least 14 people drowned in various water bodies, and two persons died in a road accident across the state in the last 24 hours in Chhath Puja-related incidents.In Ranchi, a 22-year-old boy drowned at Madhukam pond while taking a dip. It took NDRF personnel over five hours to retrieve the body.In Hazaribag, as many as eight deaths were reported since Sunday evening. On Tuesday, five young kids of the Sahpur panchayat drowned under the Katkamsandi police station. They were identified as Rinki Kumari (16), Anchal Kumari (13), Riya Kumari (14), Puja Kumari (20), and a 12-year-old boy whose name could not be ascertained.

DSP (headquarters) Amit Kumar said the incident occurred when the victims had gone to bathe in the afternoon.In another tragic incident in Hazaribag, a Chaath vrati, Mampi Kumari (26), died of heart attack while taking a holy dip in a pond in the Keredari block on Monday evening. A day earlier, two minor girls also drowned while performing Chhath rituals.In Seraikela-Kharsawan district, three members of a family drowned in the Subernarekha River on Monday evening.

While the bodies of two have been fished out, the search for the third person is underway.“It was a danger zone and the administration had explicitly warned people not to venture there,” said DC Nitish Kumar, who, along with SP Mukesh Lunayat, rushed to the spot.In Chiglabar village of Koderma, the festive spirit turned into mourning following the drowning of a devotee during the ceremonial offering of prayers to the setting sun on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Umesh Yadav, 40, son of Somar Yadav, a resident of the area.A 13-year-old boy, Rahul Kumar, son of Sunil Prasad, a resident of the Tandwa locality, also drowned in Garhwa while taking a bath in the Danro River Chhath Ghat on Monday morning.In another incident, two people died and a girl sustained injuries in a truck-bike collision at Hur village on the Garhwa-Palamu road on Monday morning. Ganesh Baitha (55), Chhotu Rajak (27) and his daughter Anjali Kumari (9) were coming to Garhwa from Dumaria village by a motorcycle to buy Chhath items from the market when a speeding truck hit the two-wheeler. Ganesh Baitha died on the spot, while the critically injured Chhotu Rajak died at the sadar hospital during treatment.

The girl, Anjali Kumari, is undergoing treatment.Sunil Tiwari, the officer in charge of Sadar police station, said, “The truck was seized, but the driver had fled. We are trying to arrest him.”