CUTTACK: In a tragic incident, three children of two families drowned while trying to pluck water lilies from a pond at Gopalpur village under Bhadreswar police station in Mahanga block on Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Zihan Khan (3) and Salman Khan (5), sons of Imran Khan, and Arham Khan (4) son of Anwar Khan of Gopalpur village.
The three children had gone to a pond near their homes to pluck water lilies, when they accidentally slipped into the deep water and drowned. Their family members, who started searching them, found their shoes on the bank of the pond and informed the local fire station.
Though fire services personnel rushed to the spot, the villagers had by then already rescued and taken the children to the nearby hospital where doctors declared them dead. A pal of gloom descended on the entire village with family members, relatives and villagers mourning the death of the three children.