East Champaran: Six children have died after drowning in a river in eastern Bihar, in a tragedy that has cast a pall over celebrations ahead of the Holi festival.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening in Rakhwa panchayat under Kesaria police station limits in Motihari, in East Champaran district. According to local residents, the children had gone to bathe in the Raghwa river earlier in the day when one of them strayed into deeper waters and began to struggle.
In what witnesses described as a desperate attempt to save the child, five others entered the river one after another. All six were swept away by strong currents. People on the riverbank raised the alarm, but by the time help arrived the children had disappeared beneath the surface.
Police and district officials reached the scene shortly after being informed. With the help of local villagers and divers, a search and recovery operation was carried out. After hours of effort, all six bodies were retrieved from the river, prompting scenes of grief as relatives gathered at the site.
The victims were identified as Diksha Kumari, 12, Priya Kumari, 6, and Sonakshi Kumari, 9 three sisters and daughters of Dharmendra Sahni along with Sonali Kumari, 12, daughter of Kameshwar Sahni; Prince Kumar, 11, son of Manoj Sahni; and Chhoti Kumari, 8, daughter of Manoj Kumar Sahni.
The station house officer at Kesaria police station said that the bodies had been recovered and further legal formalities were under way. Authorities have appealed to parents not to allow children to bathe unsupervised in rivers and ponds, particularly during the festive season, warning of the dangers posed by strong currents and deep waters.
The deaths have left the village in mourning, with families and residents struggling to come to terms with the scale of the loss.
