Three children drowned in a pit filled with rainwater at Solipur village in Shadnagar police limits, on the city outskirts, on Monday.
The three friends — identified as seven-year-old Akshit Goud, 13-year-old Fareed and his seven-year-old brother Fareen — had gone to the village outskirts and ventured into the pond-like pit, unaware of its depth, to catch some small fish.
According to Shadnagar police, the pit created by people digging up soil does not look deep from the outside.
The incident took place at around 10.30 a.m., when four friends, who were at home for Dasara holidays, ventured into a nearby empty unattended real estate venture. One of the kids who got frightened seeing the others cry and drown in the pit rushed back to the village and alerted the elders. And by the time locals rushed to the spot, the children had breathed their last.
According to the police, the deep pit was on a private real-estate venture that was laid nearly 10 years ago. Since it remained empty and unattended people removed soil from the area. All the pits were filled following the recent rains.
The Solipur village was heavy with grief with the death of its children. Officials and local leaders visited the Shadnagar government hospital where the post-mortem was conducted. They also condoled the family and assured them of ex-gratia and other assistance.
Meanwhile, the Shadnagar police said preliminary enquiries pointed to negligence of the venture owner and local officials, who did not inspect and check earth-moving works or ensure safety measures. A case was registered for further investigation.
