Four people drown in Yamuna following Ganesh Chaturthi celebration

Four people drowned in Yamuna river after they decided to take a bath in the river following a Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at their house in Nihal Vihar of Delhi's Nangloi.

The incident happened here on Thursday night when a group of eight people went into deep waters of the river for taking a bath. Four of them managed to return to the bank but the other four persons drowned.

"A PCR call was received at Alipur police station at 9:02 pm on Thursday that a group of eight persons were taking a bath on the banks of river Yamuna near thoker no. 17 (a term used to identify mud roads leading to floodplains). On enquiry, it was found that a group of about 30 persons had performed the Ganesh Pooja at their house and thereafter, somebody suggested that they must take a bath in the Yamuna river. And so they proceeded," stated an official release.

"They were stopped at Shani Mandir and Bakhtawar Pur and were advised by civil defence and the police staff to avoid bath but they bluffed saying that they will not go to the river. But they came to Yamuna bank for taking a bath," it added.

The deceased have been identified as Umesh Yadav (20), Priyanka (20), Pinki (21) and Nikit (21) -- all residents of Nihaal Vihar, Nangloi, Delhi.

The Delhi Fire service and disaster management services, civil defence staff and State Disaster Management (SDM) emergency rescue team carried out the rescue operation.