SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 21: The bodies of three students who tragically drowned in the Maithon Dam of DVC were recovered after a 22-hour search operation, police confirmed.
The first body, identified as Yuvraj Singh (16), was retrieved at around 9:50 am, followed by Junaid Hussain (16) at 10:30 am, and Nayav Gaddi (15) at 2:15 pm.
Akristi Aman, Officer-in-Charge of the Maithon Police Station, stated that all three bodies have been sent for post-mortem at SNMMCH. The recovery operation involved local boatmen, divers, and the police, resuming at daybreak after being hindered by darkness the previous night.
Birthday celebration turns tragic
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when six Class X students from Guru Govind Singh Public School (GGSPS) in Dhanbad visited Maithon Dam, located approximately 35 km from the district headquarters, to celebrate a birthday. During the outing, three of the students drowned while bathing in the dam.
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Overwhelmed with panic, the remaining three students returned to Dhanbad without informing local residents in Maithon about the incident. The families of the victims learned of the tragedy only when they began searching for their children around 6 pm and were informed by the survivors.
Delayed rescue efforts due to darkness
Upon being alerted, the families rushed to Maithon late Wednesday evening and requested police assistance. Although local divers and boatmen attempted to locate the missing students, they were unable to continue the search due to poor visibility.
The search resumed on Thursday morning, leading to the recovery of the bodies.
Family members revealed that two of the deceased, Yuvraj Singh and Junaid Hussain, were students of Guru Govind Singh Public School, while Nayav Gaddi was a student of Little Flower School. The tragic incident has left the families and the local community in deep mourning.