A 10-year-old boy drowned while taking a bath in the Kharkai River along the Kadma thana area on Saturday morning.

The Kharkai is one of the major tributaries of the Subarnarekha River. It flows through the Adityapur region of Jamshedpur.

The victim, identified as Suraj Pramanik, a resident of Bagey Bustee along the Kadma-Sonari marine drive, was taking a bath in the swollen river with three other boys.

A strong current in the water-body swept away Suraj towards the river-meet.

Police initially tried to locate the body by pressing local divers but failed to yield any result. An NDRF team was rushed to the spot.

Manoj Thakur, OC of Kadma thana, said that three teams of NDRF were deployed at the Ghatsila sub-division of the district as part of rescue operations in the aftermath of Cyclone Yass.

"As the NDRF teams were still stationed at Ghatsila sub-division, we requisitioned for one of the teams to locate the body. One team of 24 members reached the spot in the afternoon to carry out the operation," said Thakur while talking to The Telegraph Online.

The OC said the incident took place at about 11 am, adding that the body might have been swept away in the Subernarekha River towards Ghatsila.

"The current of the water was so strong that the boy was swept away in no time. Otherwise I would have plunged into the river to save the boy, "said Dinesh Gope, a local slum-dweller to The Telegraph Online.