The victims are identified as Simal Nau, 15, Upendra Barai, 10, Rita Gaderiya, 12, Rakesh Gaderiya, 10, and Chanda Gaderiya, 14, of Sonbarsa, said police.
Of the dead, Rita, Chanda and Rakesh are siblings, according to police. [break]
The children had gone to a monsoon water-filled pond in order to fetch singata, a type of wild fruit, near their house after they returned from school on Friday. The innocent children had no idea that their death was lurking in the ditch tantalizing their hunger with sweet fruit. They got inside the pool one by one and never returned.
When the other friends did not come out of the ditch, a child who was outside the pool had called the villagers, said DSP Dipak Neupane of Rupandehi District Police Office citing the child.
The villagers had taken them out of the water and rushed them to Rayapur-based Amuwa health post. But the children had already died on the spot.
The police took the victims to District Hospital in Bhairahawa for postmortem.
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