Patna, Aug 9: Tragedy struck Alamnagar in Bihar’s Purnea district on Sunday when three brothers drowned while attempting to save one another after one of them fell into deep water.

The incident occurred in Ward No. 7 of Kullakhas Panchayat under Kasba block in the morning.

According to an official, four sons of local resident Alamgir had gone to a waterbody behind a warehouse near their home to catch fish using a net.

During the activity, one of the brothers reportedly began drowning.

In an attempt to rescue him, his two other brothers entered the deeper part of the waterbody. All three were subsequently pulled under and drowned.

The fourth brother, Ali Hussain, witnessed the incident and immediately ran back to the village to alert his family.

Relatives and local residents rushed to the spot and, after considerable effort, recovered the three children from the water. However, they had already died.

The deceased persons have been identified as Mofijul (12), Tafijul (10) and Sairajul (8). All three were biological brothers.

The deaths sent shockwaves through the village, leaving the family devastated.

Their father, Alamgir, has eight sons, making the loss of three children in the same incident particularly devastating.

Their mother, Dulhari and other family members were left inconsolable.

Kullakhas Panchayat Mukhiya Ranjit Paswan expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and urged the administration to provide government financial assistance to them.

Kasba Circle Officer Nishant Kumar confirmed the drowning deaths and said that an official was immediately sent to the spot after the administration received information about the incident.

The district police have recovered the dead bodies and sent them to Purnea Medical College for the post-mortem. After the post-mortem, the dead bodies will be handed over to the family members of the deceased for the last rites.

The tragedy has cast a pall of gloom over Alamnagar, with villagers gathering to support the grieving family.

New Delhi, Aug 9: Ahead of the 80th Independence Day celebrations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched the ‘Tiranga Yatra’ across various states. Party leaders said the rally is meant to honour the sacrifices of the freedom fighters to uphold the nation’s Tricolour.

In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav took part in a ‘Tiranga Yatra’.

Speaking to reporters, he said: With the call of ‘Quit India’, the world witnessed the longing for freedom within India… It is the duty of every patriotic citizen to remember the sacrifices made by all our revolutionaries, martyrs and freedom fighters, who made sacrifices. Therefore, as Independence Day is approaching, the Tiranga Yatra has been launched across the country.”

“We pray that India remains forever young and that independence remains forever immortal,” CM Yadav added.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak noted that August 9 also marks the ‘Kakori Train Action Day’.

“Even before Independence Day, we have seen great enthusiasm among the youth across the state. Today, lakhs of young people came out onto the streets carrying the Tricolour and took a pledge to carry it from booth to booth. The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign is turning out to be highly successful in the state,” he told media.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also participated in the Tiranga rally.

“Our youth are a symbol of energy. Our youth have the strength to face every challenge for the country. This youth energy should get the right platform to move forward and prepare themselves to face the challenges of the country and society. They should also receive traditional education. With this vision, the Tiranga Yatra is being launched across the country by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the world’s largest political organisation…” the CM added.

Rajasthan Minister Jogaram Patel told reporters in the state’s Jodhpur district that throughout the Independence Day week, the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign will be carried out across Rajasthan and the country.

“We started the campaign from Jodhpur today, followed by a Tiranga rally in which a large number of people participated,” he mentioned.

Highlighting that the Tricolour represents patriotism and the spirit of ‘nation first’, he added: “Through this Tiranga Yatra, we are remembering the sacrifices of all our freedom fighters.”

Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth took part in the event in Jharkhand’s Ranchi.

“Through the Tiranga Yatra, the spirit of ‘Nation First’ is being promoted. The Tiranga is our pride, honour and glory,” he said.

Jharkhand BJP President Aditya Sahu added: “Crores of people had sacrificed their lives for this tricolour. So many women lost their husbands and children were orphaned. So, to uphold the honour of the Tricolour, the Tiranga Yatra is being held across the country, on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

In West Bengal’s Kharagpur, Minister Dilip Ghosh also took part in the rally, saying that the Tiranga Yatra will be extended to other districts of the state.

“Across Bengal, the Tiranga will be taken to every household and placed in every home. On August 10, a big carnival will be held in Kolkata where scores of people are expected to participate,” he told reporters.

A day earlier, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari launched the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign with a march in his Assembly constituency of Bhabanipur.

Amaravati, Aug 9: At least 20 passengers were injured when a private bus in which they were travelling fell off a bridge after a collision with another vehicle in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district on Sunday.

The accident occurred on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway near Pogarur in Pamidi mandal early in the morning.

According to police, a private bus travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru collided with a vehicle on the bridge. Such was the impact of the collision that both the vehicles fell off the bridge.

Twenty passengers sustained grievous injuries. Police rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation with the help of locals.

Police personnel pulled out the passengers trapped in the bus and shifted them to government hospitals at Pamidi and Anantapur.

A JCB was pressed into service to pull out some of the injured, including the bus driver. The condition of the bus driver is stated to be critical.

The accident led to a huge traffic jam on the national highway. Motorists faced severe hardship due to the traffic jam.

Additional police personnel rushed to the spot and cleared the traffic jam.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the states known for a high number of road accidents. On average, 22 people are losing their lives in road accidents in the state every day.

The state recorded 9,194 accidents from January to June this year, claiming 4,058 lives.

Last year, road accidents in the state claimed 23 lives every day. Though this number has slightly come down this year, the high number of road fatalities remains a cause of concern.

Police say non-compliance with traffic rules and safety norms and negligent driving are the main causes of accidents.

Statistics show two-wheeler riders account for the highest number of fatalities. In the 9,194 accidents reported so far this year, 3,980 two-wheelers were involved. As many as 1,835 (45.21 per cent) of those who died were two-wheeler riders.

The second-highest fatalities (669) were of pedestrians.