Five children drown in Eluru and Chittoor districts; four children die of suffocation in Vizianagaram district

According to the police, the tragedy occurred when the children were reportedly playing along the edge of the water body. One after the other ventured into the pond, only to get stuck in the mud and drowned. The deceased were identified as Gowthami (7), Shalini (6) and Ashwin (7), all hailing from Devarajapuram village, but from three different families.

The parents who noticed the children missing from the village were alerted by a batch of shepherds on seeing the bodies floating in the pond. The police retrieved the bodies and sent them to the Government Area Hospital in Kuppam for post-mortem. A case has been registered.

In another incident, four children, including two siblings, died of suffocation when they stuck in a car in Vizianagaram. The victims, who were in the age group of eight to 10 years, locked the door accidentally while playing. As nobody was there nearby, they struggled a lot and died in the car. They were identified as Mangi Buchhibabu, Charumathi, Charishma and Manaswini. Both Charishma and Charumathi were sisters. The incident occurred near the mandal office of Vizianagaram. All the children belonged to Dwarapudi area of Vizianagaram mandal limits. The shocked family members tried in vain to save them by shifting them to the hospital, where they were declared brought dead. The police personnel booked a case and inquired about the incident.