A minor schoolgirl and a paramedical student died by drowning in separate incidents at the Bhutni islet in Manikchak block of Malda in the last 24 hours.
Hemangini Mandal, 12, a Class VI student, went to take a bath in a ditch swollen with rainwater, with her friends at Paschim Narayanpur village.
When Hemangini went underwater, her friends screamed, prompting bystanders to search for her. She was found after almost an hour. Rushed to the rural hospital in Manikchak, she was pronounced dead.
Some residents alleged that the disaster management team reached the spot late.
On Tuesday evening, Roz Sheikh, a 21-year-old paramedical student, was cycling home at Julobditola on a flooded road as the Ganga had inundated the area.
Suddenly, the youth lost control of his cycle and fell into a rain-fed pond. After half an hour, his body was found.
Sources in the state irrigation department said that at Manikchak, on the left bank of the Ganga, the river was flowing at a height of 25.4 metres, around 10 metres above extreme danger level.
“People should not venture near the river and adjoining water bodies, which are also swollen now. We advise extreme caution while crossing flooded roads,” said an official of the Malda district administration.
Fatal accident
A pedestrian died and two on a bike got injured in a road accident at Malbazar, Jalpaiguri, on Wednesday morning.
Sources said a pick-up van was heading towards the town from Chalsa when near the Malbazar fire station, the van hit a pedestrian, rammed into a motorcycle and flipped sideways. Pedestrian Pappu Barman, 36, died instantly. Debasish Pal and Satyendranath Basak, who were on the bike, got critically injured and were admitted to the local super-speciality hospital.
The van driver is absconding, police sources said.