Rourkela, Oct. 26: A Class X student today drowned in river Koel while taking bath. His body was later fished out this afternoon by a search team. Three of his schoolmates, however, managed to survive.

The four boys, including the deceased, Abhijeet Senapati, were supposed to attend a class in the school between 9am and 11am. They had left home for the school, but instead went to the river, sub-inspector Pitambara Kuanra, said. The boys, however, used to visit the river almost regularly, he said.

All the boys were swept away when they were taking a bath, but the three of them somehow managed to swim back. Abhijeet went missing. Following information, the fire brigade personnel searched for him and the body was fished out near Tumkela ghat at sector-16 at 12.30pm,” said Kuanra.

In the last six months, this is the fourth drowning incident and altogether seven lives have been lost.

Recently, on October 21, four Class IX students of a government school in the Capital drowned in a canal on the city outskirts.

The government had shifted the headmaster of the school and announced that it would soon have students tracking policy for classes IX and X students.

In September, three boys from Rajgangpur, who had gone for a picnic in the afternoon near river Sankh, drowned. The bodies were recovered the next day. In May, three boys, drowned near Tarkera ghat.

In fact, in last three years around two dozen have drowned in rivers.

The Pradhanpalli area near the confluence of rivers Koel and Sankh is dangerous. The riverbed from here has shifting sand along with stone ridges which are visible to naked eyes when the river is dry. “These stone ridges are dangerous. Most deaths occur here,” said Gufran Khan, a resident of Panposh area.