A tragic accident in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district has left an entire village in mourning after three schoolchildren drowned in a water filled pit dug inside a farm field.
The Accident in Gandhinagar Village
The incident took place on Gandhi Nagar Road, under the jurisdiction of the Bortalab police station. All three children who died belonged to the tribal community and studied in class 1 and class 3. A pit had been dug in a farm field for railway related work, and rainwater had collected inside it. That very pit turned fatal for the three children.
Did the Teachers' Strike Play a Role?
Villagers said the school's teachers usually picked up and dropped off these children every day. But on the day of the accident, the teachers did not come to fetch the children because of an ongoing teachers' strike. Left unsupervised, the children wandered off into the village, which set the stage for the tragedy.
A villager said around 10 to 12 children had gone out to roam. Three of them jumped into the water filled pit to bathe. The pit was reportedly around 6 feet deep, and the children could not gauge its depth. As soon as they entered the deep water, all three began drowning and lost their lives.
Bodies Recovered Late in the Evening
News of the accident triggered panic in the village and among local authorities. After a lengthy effort, the bodies of the three children were pulled out of the pit late in the evening. The bodies are currently kept in the mortuary of the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Dongargarh. Since the accident, mourning has spread across Gandhinagar village, with the families of the victims left devastated.
Additional SP Confirms the Incident
Additional SP Keertan Rathore confirmed the incident, stating that it occurred on Gandhi Nagar Road within the Bortalab police station area. He said three schoolchildren died after drowning in a pit dug for railway work that had filled with water. He added that the bodies were recovered after considerable effort and brought to the Community Health Centre in Dongargarh.
Villagers Accuse Administration of Negligence
Local residents say leaving such an open, deep pit unsecured amounts to clear negligence on the part of the administration. Villagers have accused the authorities of failing to fence off or put up warning signs around the dangerous pits dug during the railway work, a lapse they say cost three young lives.
