Gorakhpur: The bodies of three youths who drowned while bathing in the Rapti river were recovered by the State Disaster Response Force on Saturday morning. A joint team of SDRF and local police had been conducting a search operation since Friday, when the incident occurred.According to police, four youths went to bathe in the river near Mainabhagar Tola Banjraha in the Chilua Tal area around 2 pm. Three of them slipped into a deeper stretch and began to drown. The fourth youth managed to swim to safety and raised an alarm.On receiving information, local police rushed to the spot and initiated a search operation with the help of divers. Despite efforts continuing till late Friday, the youths could not be traced.The search resumed on Saturday morning with SDRF teams intensifying operations. Within a few hours, the bodies of Shubham Yadav (19) and Abhay Yadav alias Bunty (18), both residents of Bariyarpur, and Shiv Sahani (20), a resident of Kazipur, were recovered.Preliminary investigation suggests that the riverbed at the spot had a sudden increase in depth and strong currents, making it difficult to escape.SP North Gyanendra Kumar said necessary legal formalities are being carried out and urged people to avoid bathing in deep and unsafe stretches of rivers.
