Bihar news: Four drown in River Ganga; CM Nitish Kumar announces ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh

Bihar news: As many as four people have lost their lives after being drowned in the Ganga river in the Narayanpur block of the Navgachiya subdivision of Bihar's Bhagalpur district. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar expressed condolences on their demise and announced an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh for each of the families of the deceased.

There were two minors among the four drowned. Three of them were the only children in their households. Local divers recovered the bodies and handed them over to the families, reported The Hindu.

The incident happened when a person started to struggle to stay afloat, while swimming with 11 of his friends in the Madhurapur Ganga Jahaj Ghat in Bihar. The locals tried to save the person, but they were drawn in by the powerful current, mentioned the report.

In an official statement, Bihar CMO said, “The Chief Minister has said that this incident is very sad. CM has directed to give ex-gratia grants of four lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased.”

Earlier, Nitish Kumar had expressed his condolences for six people who had lost their lives in a road accident in the Bakhtiyarpur police station area of Patna in Bihar on Tuesday morning.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed deep condolences on the death of six people in a road accident situated on the Bakhtiyarpur-Biharsharif road under the Bakhtiyarpur police station of Barh subdivision. The incident is extremely sad," the Chief Minister Office stated.

At least six people died, and five others were injured after a car collided with a truck on the national highway in the Bakhtiyarpur police station area of Patna in Bihar. According to Abhishek Singh, a sub-divisional police officer said that a total of 11 people were in the car.

The five injured are under treatment, and investigations are underway, said Abhishek Singh. “A postmortem of the body is being done. The incident is being investigated based on CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and other technical analysis. Law and order are normal,” said Singh.