Three children drowned in a canal in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh district after two of them jumped in trying to rescue a friend who had slipped into the water, leaving an entire village in mourning.
Tragedy struck while children were out grazing sheep near the canal
The incident took place near the Kumbharam Arya Lift Canal in the Rawatsar police station area, where a group of village children had gone, as they routinely do, to graze their sheep. In rural areas, children accompanying livestock near fields and canals is an everyday sight, so nobody imagined that an ordinary outing would turn into such a devastating tragedy. The children reportedly had no real sense of how strong the current was or how deep the water actually ran, and that misjudgment ended up costing three young lives within moments.
Two more jumped in to save one, and all three were swept away
According to details that have emerged, one of the children lost his footing near the water and fell into the canal. Seeing him struggling, the other children panicked and, without a second thought for their own safety, jumped in one after another to pull him out. But the water level was high and the current too strong for them to hold their ground. In the end, the very children who had gone in to save their friend were themselves dragged under, and all three lost their lives in the attempt, before anyone nearby could intervene.
Two of the dead were brothers, a fourth child was pulled out alive
The deceased have been identified as 17-year-old Bajrang, 14-year-old Sunil and 15-year-old Kaur Pal. Bajrang and Kaur Pal are said to be real brothers, meaning one family lost two sons in the same accident. A fourth child, 14-year-old Ramchandra, was also caught up in the incident, but villagers who were nearby acted quickly and managed to pull him out of the water alive. Had they reacted a little later, the toll could have been even higher.
Police recover bodies with divers' help, SP rushes to the spot
As soon as word of the drowning reached them, police from Rawatsar police station rushed to the scene and, with the help of local divers, retrieved all three bodies from the canal. The bodies have been taken into custody and kept at the mortuary of the government hospital in Rawatsar, where postmortem examinations are being carried out. Given the seriousness of the incident, Superintendent of Police B. Aditya himself left for Rawatsar to review the situation on the ground. Rawatsar police are now investigating the exact circumstances that led to the accident. The tragedy has left the entire region in shock, with grieving families struggling to come to terms with their loss.
