Kolkata, Oct 11 (IANS): Three persons drowned in the River Ganga near the Nimtala Crematorium in North Kolkata where they had gone after performing last rites of one of their relatives.

The incident happened late Monday night. The local police sources said that a group of people went to the river despite repeated warnings by the policemen deputed there about the forthcoming high tide. They refused to get out of the water quickly and three of them were washed away by a high tide in the river.

Three more persons were somehow rescued, while the other three drowned. Their bodies have not been found yet. The divers from the state disaster management department were conducting search operations till the report was filed. All of them were residents of the Beliaghata area in North Kolkata.

A similar tragedy took place on October 5, on the occasion of Vijayadashami when a flash flood hit River Mal at Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. As many as eight people died and several went missing.