Three minor boys drown in pond while ‘plucking water lilies’ in Odisha’s Cuttack

A tragic incident in Odisha’s Cuttack district claimed the lives of three young children after they drowned on Sunday in a pond near their homes at Gopalpur village under Bhadreswar police station limits. Two Brothers, 6-Year-Old Friend Among The Deceased The deceased include two brothers and their six-year-old neighbourhood friend. According to local sources, the children may have accidentally slipped into the pond while attempting to pluck water lilies. However, the exact circumstances leading to the incident are yet to be established. It is said that the children were playing near the pond in the morning when they suddenly went missing. After noticing their absence, family members and villagers launched a search operation. During which, one child was spotted floating in the pond. Villagers subsequently rescued all three minor boys, but they were found dead. The deceased have been identified as Salman Khan and his younger brother Amir Khan, along with their friend Arham Khan. The children were reportedly studying in LKG, UKG and nursery, respectively. The incident has left two bereaved families, and the entire village devastated. Residents said the children may have ventured into the pond to collect flowers, but what exactly happened remains unclear. On being informed, police from Bhadreswar reached the spot and initiated an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths. The tragic loss of three young lives has cast a pall of grief over Gopalpur village, with residents struggling to come to terms with the incident. “My nephew’s two sons had gone to a nearby pond to take a bath along with two other children. Three of them slipped into the pond and drowned. After searching for some time, we spotted one child floating in the water. We managed to rescue the child and bring him ashore. On noticing a slipper floating in the pond, I jumped into the water and rescued another child who was submerged,” a relative of the two brothers, Sabur Khan, said. “After nearly 10 to 15 minutes, I realised that another child was missing. While searching underwater with my feet, I felt him touch my leg. He had been underwater for more than half an hour,” the elderly man added.