Lucknow: Five minor children drowned in a water filled pit dug by a brick kiln owner in UP’s Rampur on Wednesday, taking the number of such deaths to 13 since July 4.
The incident took place in Gadmar Patti village under Shahabad police station. The victims had gone for herding their cattle when they decided to take a bath in a large pit, unaware of its depth, and drowned.
The victims were identified as Kumari Chanchal (10), Sana Israr (9), Aleena (10), Gulafsha (10) and Mohd Aqil (12). All children belonged to the families of marginal farmers of the village. Police have sent their bodies for autopsy.
Additional SP (Rampur) Sansaar Singh said, “Prima facie, the pit was dug deeper than the permissible limit. The role of the mining officer is also suspicious. We will register an FIR once a complaint is lodged by the victims’ kin.”
In Rampur, 13 children have tragically lost their lives in the last 16 days. On July 14, two children were found dead in a pit in Milak tehsil. On July 12, two school boys aged 14 and 15 drowned in a pit dug by a brick kiln owner near a railway crossing in the Milak area. On July 6, an 11-year-old boy also succumbed to drowning in Bhasodi Sharif village under the jurisdiction of Milak police station. Besides, three children, aged between 10 and 12, drowned in a pit formed for soil extraction near a river in Shahzad Nagar area on July 4.
