Girl falls into pit, dies

A nine-year-old girl drowned in a small pit dug for laying a new road from Muhuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi on Monday evening.

Police said the girl, P. Banupriya, studying class IV in a local school, was playing near the water-filled pit in Palam area in Dhanushkodi when she fell into it and got buried as the loose sand slid into it.

Her mother Murugalakshmi and aunt, who were washing clothes in the area, immediately lifted her out but could not find any vehicle to rush her to hospital. They carried the girl for about three km on foot to Muhuntharayar Chathiram and then transported her in a four-wheeler.

Then, the girl was rushed to the Rameswaram Government Hospital in an ambulance, but the doctors declared her brought dead. The victim’s father, Palani, who was residing in Natarajapuram in the island, had gone for fishing in Dhanushkodi with his family and was staying in a hut, the police said.

The girl was studying in a government school at Natarajapuram and had gone with her parents, the police added

Dhanushkodi police registered a case on Tuesday.