Bhubaneswar, March 29: Holi turned tragic with at least 10 revellers drowning in four separate incidents in the city.

A group of six youths drowned in the Bhargavi river at Balakati, around 12km from here.

Sources said about nearly 32 youths, after celebrating the festival of colours, reached the spot yesterday on their motorcycles and bicycles to take a bath in the river.

Although the place is considered dangerous, the Khurda district administration has failed to put up a signboard to caution people.

However, an assistant sub-inspector of police and a constable deployed on the spot had tried to prevent the youths from venturing into the water.

A local resident and eyewitness Pradip Sahu said some people present at the spot had also warned the boys, but they did not heed their advice.

The youths who died yesterday at Balakati were identified as Bhabani Shankar Patnaik, Sitanshu Patnaik, Jitendra Kumar Mallick, Gyanaranjan Garabadu, Manas Ranjan and S.P. Amit, all of them in their mid 20s.

Amit’s body was retrieved this afternoon after the local administration stopped releasing water from the Balakati canal through the siphon (gate) to the river.

An Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force team head havildar major S.P. Mohanty said: “Adequate awareness should be generated at these vulnerable spots asking people to avoid bathing when they are in an intoxicated state.”

In the other incidents, Ganesh Sethi, 27, drowned at Dayanadi river and Tathagath Chakraborty, 35, in the Nayapalli tank.

Suman Saha of Chintamaneswar drowned in Kuakhai river while K. Somnath Patra died in another pond near Station Bazaar.