PRAYAGRAJ, June 12 -- In a rare and tragic turn of events, a boatman ferrying devotees across the Ganga drowned after accidentally falling into the river, while all five devotees onboard were rescued just in time. The incident occurred near Shahabad Ghat in Manikpur area of Pratapgarh district on the occasion of Jyeshtha Purnima. The boatman, 35-year-old Naresh Nishad of Rajghat, Manikpur, was ferrying five devotees across the river when he reportedly became dizzy and lost his balance, falling into the water mid-stream. Panic gripped the devotees as the boat swayed dangerously in the absence of the boatman. Fortunately, another boatman, Shiv Kumar Nishad, who was nearby, quickly sprang into action. Having just dropped off a group of pilgrims on the opposite bank, Shiv Kumar was returning when he witnessed his friend Naresh fall into the river. "I immediately rowed my boat towards him, but by the time I reached, he had disappeared beneath the water," recalled Shiv Kumar. Spotting the stranded boat drifting with panicked devotees - four women and a man - he handed over his own boat to a fellow boatman, jumped onto Naresh's boat, stabilised it, and safely ferried the devotees to the shore. Police and local divers later recovered Naresh's body after a two-hour search. His body was sent for postmortem examination, said Deep Narayan, SHO of Manikpur police station. While the tragic loss of the boatman cast a pall of gloom, timely action by Shiv Kumar averted a bigger disaster....