Six members of a family, including two infants, were killed after a dilapidated house collapsed during heavy rain in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.
The incident occurred around 2 am in Mahuli Bazaar, about 3 km from the district headquarters, when seven family members were asleep in a room of the old house.
The deceased were identified as Pramod Srivastava (60), his wife Rita (55), their son Nitin (25), daughter-in-law Madhuri (24), and Aman's two sons, Madhav (2) and 10-month-old Advik. Madhuri was the wife of the couple's elder son, Aman.
Aman (28), the lone survivor, managed to crawl out of the debris and alert neighbours, who rushed to the spot and informed the police.
Police and fire service personnel launched a rescue operation and pulled out those trapped under the rubble. All were taken to the government medical college, where six were declared dead.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and further investigation is underway, police said.
Meanwhile, two children drowned after falling into a rainwater-filled pit dug for the installation of a submersible pump in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district, reported PTI, citing officials.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Garopur village in the Barsathi area, they said.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Madiyahu) Naveen Kumar said a borewell had been drilled on Tuesday by a local resident, Achhelal alias Pappu Gautam, for the installation of a submersible pump. The pit dug for the work was left uncovered and later filled with rainwater.
At around 5 pm on Wednesday, six-year-old Shivam Bind, son of Virendra Bind, and five-year-old Aarav Bind, son of Anil Bind, were passing through the area while playing when they fell into the water-filled pit, he said.
When the children did not return home for a long time, their family members and villagers launched a search. The two were eventually found in the pit, located about 100 metres from their homes.
They were rushed to a healthcare facility at Katwar Bazaar, from where they were referred to a hospital in Suriyawan. Doctors there declared both the children dead, the official said.
Calling the incident "extremely unfortunate", Kumar said an inquiry has been ordered, and strict action would be taken against anyone found responsible.
He said the families of the children would be provided an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each under the state's natural disaster relief provisions within three to four days.
(With inputs from PTI)
