Patna, Aug 26 : In a tragic incident, four teenagers of a family drowned in a river in Bihar's Gopalganj district on Monday morning.

The mishap occurred around 7:30 a.m. at Jadavpur village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Baikunthpur police station.

The Circle Officer of Baikunthpur, Gautam Kumar Singh, confirming the incident, said that a rescue operation is currently underway to recover the bodies.

'As soon as we received information about the mishap, we arrived with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to conduct the rescue operation. The teenagers are currently missing and are suspected to have drowned,' he stated.

The rescue teams are actively searching the area to locate the missing boys, and efforts are being made to bring the situation under control. The community is in shock following the tragic incident.

The victims have been identified as Nikhil Kumar (16), Sujit Kumar (16), Sanjiv Kumar (14) and Sumit Kumar (14).

Eyewitnesses said that the teenagers went to the Gandak River to take a bath when one of them started to drown. As he raised an alarm for help, the other three teenagers attempted to rescue him. Unfortunately, they also drowned and quickly disappeared into the river's strong currents.

This heartbreaking incident has sent shockwaves throughout the region, and a large number of villagers have gathered at the scene.

'The NDRF team is currently conducting a rescue operation to locate them,' Singh said.

The rising water level of the Gandak River, due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Nepal, has exacerbated the situation.

For the past several days, the Gandak River has been flowing above the danger level at Dumaria Ghat in Gopalganj district, which is close to Jadavpur village. Currently, the river is flowing 64 cm above the danger mark at Dumaria Ghat, with a water level of 62.86 meters.

Given the rising water levels, the district administration had already issued warnings to villagers to avoid bathing in or going near the riverbanks. Despite these warnings, the tragic incident occurred, highlighting the dangers posed by the swollen river.

/IANS