1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Middle EastUS election Ukraine
CatastropheIndia

India: Dozens drown during Hindu festival

September 26, 2024

At least 46 people have drowned, 37 of them children, at events to celebrate a Hindu festival. The ceremony involves bathing in local rivers and streams.

https://p.dw.com/p/4l6Sg
Hindu worshippers perform rituals during the Jitiya festival
Hindu devotees participate in acts such as fasting and bathing during the Jitiya festivalImage: Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images

At least 46 people died on Thursday when they drowned while celebrating a Hindu festival in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, officials said.

Of them, at least 37 were children.

What do we know so far? 

Devotees drowned in separate incidents across Bihar, as worshippers marked the Jitiya Parv Hindu festival, observed by mothers for the wellbeing of their children.

"People ignored dangerous water levels in rivers as well as ponds while bathing," a local official told AFP. The families of the victims will be compensated by the state.

Deadly incidents are common at places of worship during religious festivals in India. A year ago, 22 people died during the same festival, including 15 children.

ft/rm (Reuters, AP)