Six boys drowned in the Kharasrota river in Odisha's Jajpur on Saturday while they were taking a bath after playing Holi.
Three bodies have been recovered so far and the search operation is underway to trace the other three who are still missing.
"The locals had recovered one of the bodies beore we arrived. We have traced two others, while three are still missing, said Purna Chandra Marandi, District Assistant Fire Officer.
As the search operation was halted yesterday night due to low light, the Fire department and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have started the rescue operation on Sunday morning again.
According to locals, the boys went to the river for taking a bath after playing Holi on Saturday.
"As they were taking a bath in the river after playing Holi, they noticed that one of them is drowning in the river. So my nephew tried to rescue his friend. One by one all of them drowned in a bid to rescue others. At last, my son went to rescue and he also drowned in the river," said Satya Chandra Jena, father of one of the boys.
