Gorakhpur, April 17 -- : Tragedy struck Bariyarpur village under Chiluwatal police station limits on Friday afternoon when three youths, all close friends, drowned in the River Rapti near an under-construction bridge at Bajarhan village while bathing in the river.

Officials said four friends from the same village had gone to the riverbank for a bath. During bathing, they moved into deeper water and began to drown. One of them managed to swim back to the shore and alerted nearby residents, who informed the authorities.

Rescue teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police and trained divers rushed to the spot and started a search operation. Boats and divers were deployed to scan the river stretch to trace the missing you...