Two young men from Guwahati lost their lives after drowning at Ganapati Waterfalls in Meghalaya, located near the Assam-Meghalaya inter-state border, on Tuesday — a tragedy that cast a deep shadow over Dol Utsav festivities in the city.
The deceased have been identified as Jayrani Wari and Wenar Bodo, both residents of the Kharghuli area in Guwahati.
Also Read: Search teams recover fourth victim in Kharghuli Brahmaputra drowning
A group of five youths from Guwahati had travelled to the site for a day outing and decided to bathe at the waterfall. After some time in the water, the remaining three in the group realised that two of their friends had gone missing.
Despite a frantic search by the group, the two could not be located. Police were immediately alerted.
Authorities deployed teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), with personnel from both Meghalaya and Assam Police joining the search operation.
Rescuers eventually recovered the bodies of both youths from rocks in the water. Meghalaya Police shifted the bodies to a hospital in Nongpoh for post-mortem examination.