Four kids drown in pit

LUCKNOW - Four children, including two girls, drowned in a pit filled with rainwater in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district Monday, police said.

The kids, aged between 8-11, died in Bhojpura town, some 350 km from Lucknow.

The incident led to widespread protests by locals who blamed the Aligarh Municipal Corporation for the deaths.

Locals alleged that they had contacted the civic body officials many times asking them to drain the stagnant water in the pit that gets filled with water every monsoon.

While the police said the four died while bathing in the pit, the Aligarh Municipal Corporation claimed the incident took place while the four were fishing.

Aligarh Mayor Aushotosh Varshney, asked for his reaction to allegations by locals, said categorically that “the Municipal Corporation has nothing to do with the deaths.”

“It’s just an unfortunate incident,” Varshney told IANS, declining to comment further.