Medininagar (Jharkhand), Sep 23 Five people, including three minors, drowned in the Koel river in Palamu district on Wednesday during the ceremonial immersion of a tree branch worshipped during the tribal festival Karam, police said.
The incident occurred at Bokaya village under Chainpur police station limits.
Jharkhand celebrated Karam, one of the biggest tribal festivals after Sarhul, on Tuesday. The festival concludes with the immersion of a branch of Karam tree that was worshipped during the festival.
“An eight-year-old boy had drifted deep into the river during the immersion ceremony. Four persons jumped in to rescue him, and all of them drowned, Palamu Superintendent of Police Kapil Choudhary said.
The bodies have been fished out of the river and sent for post-mortem, he said.
The deceased have been identified as Amit Kumar Thakur (22), Nitish Kumar Singh (18), Vishal Paswan (16), Raja Singh (12) and Hemant Kumar Singh (8).
(PTI News)
