Koraput: Four minors including three girls died due to drowning after they fell into a rainwater-filled pit dug up for road construction work in Odisha’s Koraput district on Thursday.
According to sources, the incident took place when the children belonging to Majhiguda village under Dasmantpur block were playing on the road. A piece of land, dug up for construction of road through the village, was filled with water due to overnight rain.
The children accidentally fell into the water and drowned. Later, their families and villager came to know about it and brought the children’s bodies out of water. All children belong to the age group of 4 to 7 years.
A team from Sadar police station went to Majhiguda and wanted to take the bodies for post-mortem. But the families did not want to part with them. The villagers demanded adequate compensation to the families.
On being informed, Koraput Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) went to the spot and assured the villagers of the compensation. Later, police sent the bodies for post-mortem.
It may be noted that the road from Majhiguda to Odapur was constructed as part of the Centrally sponsored and funded Bharatmala project.