Madhuban: Five children of a family drowned while bathing in a pond in Bihar’s Madhubani district Wednesday, police said.

The tragedy happened in Kerwar village in the Patauna police station area. The children were aged between 10 and 15 years, they said.

DSP (Benipatti) Amit Kumar said seven children of the family had gone to the pond for bathing when the incident took place.

After receiving information that several children had drowned in the pond, the station house officer rushed to the spot and alerted the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Kumar said.

The SDRF team launched a rescue operation and managed to pull out two children alive. They were admitted to Benipatti Sadar Hospital, and their condition is stated to be stable, he said.

The bodies of the five deceased children have been recovered and sent to Madhubani Sadar Hospital for post-mortem examination, he added.

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha described the deaths as heartbreaking and extended condolences to the bereaved family.

The news of the death of five children from the same family due to drowning while bathing in Kerwar village is extremely heartbreaking. I pray for peace for the departed souls and strength for the family to bear this immense loss, Jha said in a social media post.

The district administration has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased children.

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