Chhattisgarh: Brother-sister duo among 4 minors drown in pond

Raipur, July 13 (IANS) In a heartbreaking accident, at least four children, including a bother-sister duo, drowned in the pond in Bhainstra village of Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa district.

A pall of gloom descended over the village with the shocking deaths of their little ones. All four were in the age group of five to eight.

The deceased were identified as Pushpanjali Shrivas and his brother Tushar Shrivas, Khyati Kewat and Ambika Yadav.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when the children, after returning from school and having food, went to a nearby pond to take a bath.

Additional SP Umesh Kashyap said. "When the kids did not return for a long time, their families launched a search for them.

During the search, they found the clothes of the kids near the pond, after which they entered the water body," he said.

The family members fished out the children from the pond and rushed them to the Community Health Centre (CHC) hospital in Baloda, but doctors declared them dead on arrival.

After getting information about the incident, Baloda Police reached the hospital and sent the bodies for post-mortem investigation.

Further investigation is on.

Kashyap said the bodies have been handed over to their relatives after autopsy.

The parents and relatives of the kids were inconsolable due to the irreparable loss. Last month, an eight-year-old boy died after drowning in a river.

The child's death cast a shadow of grief over his family.

The incident occurred when the deceased, identified as Ayush, went with his friends to take a bath in the Meduka River.

As Ayush went into the river to take a bath, he slipped into the deep water. Though he was fished out by the locals and rushed to the hospital, he was declared dead.

--IANS

svn/dpb