Bilaspur, Aug 23: Three children of a family drowned after they were swept away while crossing a river in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred on Saturday when the children, along with their 14-year-old cousin, were returning home from the DP Vipra School in Nayapara, about 2 km from their village Samdeel, said Avnish Paswan, station house officer of Takhatpur police station.
He said that the children were crossing the Ghongha River when Anmol Jaiswal (6), his sister Stuti (7) and cousin Shiksha (6) were swept away by the strong current, while Rajendra managed to reach the banks safely.
According to police, the teen, Rajendra Jaiswal, had a bicycle and suggested taking the river route as a shortcut instead of using a bridge. He got off the bicycle and began crossing the river on foot with the three children.
Villagers and police launched a search operation, and a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team was called in, the SHO said.
“Stuti’s body was recovered late Saturday evening from bushes about 50 metres from the spot, and the other two were found at Suri Ghat, around 1.5 km downstream, on Sunday morning,” he said.
After post-mortem examinations, the bodies were handed over to the families, he added. (PTI)
