Barabanki (UP), Mar 14 (UNI) Two youths drowned while taking a bath in a drain of the Saryu river after playing Holi in Tikaitnagar area of Barabanki district here in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, police sources said here.

The sources said around 8-10 teenagers, all residents of Kothari Gauriya village, had reached the river bank near Lodhemau Ghat to take a bath in the drain of the river after playing Holi. "Ravi (17) went a little ahead and jumped into the deep and started drowning," they said.

The sources said Anurag alias Rishabh (19), who was standing nearby, also jumped on the deeper side as soon as he saw Ravi drowning. "By the time their friends could make some effort to save them, both of them drowned in the water and disappeared," they said.

As soon as the family and all the villagers came to know about the incident, they ran towards the river and reached the spot and informed the local police. "After an effort of about two and a half hours of hard work, the divers found Ravi's body from the river. After some time, Anurag alias Rishabh's body was also fished out of the water by the divers," they said. UNI XC AB SSP