Garhwa: In a heart-wrenching incident, four children drowned in a pit filled with water in Ursugi village of Jharkhand’s Garhwa district on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
All the victims were residents of the same village, Ursugi.
The deceased have been identified as Lucky Kumar, 8, son of Awadhesh Ram; Akshay Kumar, 12, son of Santosh Ram; Narayan Chandravanshi,16, son of Babulal Chandravanshi; and Hariom Chandravanshi,13.
According to locals, the children were playing near a ‘dobha’ (small pond) adjacent to the village. At some point, they entered a deep pit filled with water, possibly for bathing. Tragically, they were unable to come out and drowned.
By the time villagers were alerted and reached the spot, it was too late. The children were pulled out and rushed to Garhwa Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared all four dead.
The tragedy has plunged the village into mourning, with the families of the victims inconsolable.
Following the incident, senior officials, including Garhwa SDO Sanjay Kumar, visited the hospital and met the grieving families.
This is the latest in a series of drowning incidents in Garhwa. In the last five days alone, nine children have lost their lives due to drowning in rivers, ponds, and water bodies across the district.
Just a day earlier, on Monday, 17-year-old Divya Kumari, daughter of Deepak Kumar Rajak from Ketar block, drowned in the Son River.
On April 11, four girls drowned in a pond in Haraiya village while attending a family function. The victims — Lado Singh, 10, daughter of Chandan Singh; Ankita Singh, 22, daughter of Jitendra Singh; Roma Singh,18, daughter of Vishisht Singh from Pagar in Palamu district; and Meethi Singh,15, daughter of Abhishek Singh from Purnadih in Leslieganj police station area — were all relatives.
The spate of drowning incidents has raised concerns about safety measures near water bodies in the region.
