Three teenage boys drowned in a ditch, filled with water amid severe waterlogging in the national capital, police said on Friday.
The children drowned in the ditch at a metro construction site in the Mukundpur area after they jumped in it to have a bath. The mishap occurred around 3:00 in the afternoon.
The boys were pulled out and rushed to BJRM hospital, but sadly, all three were declared dead upon arrival at the hospital. As per Delhi Police, the victims are aged between 12 and 15 years old. “They were pulled out and rushed to a nearby hospital, where all three were declared dead,” police said.
The victims have been identified as Piyush (13), Nikhil (10) and Ashish (13). A senior Delhi Police officer said that all of them were residents of Jahangirpuri H-block, and had gone to take bath in a waterlogged area in Mukundpur on Friday afternoon.
“After some time, they went into deep water. By the time another local noticed the children could not be spotted in the water, and jumped to rescue them, they had drowned,” the officer said.
Following the incident, police launched an investigation to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called it an unfortunate incident, saying that the boys had gone to bath in the river. He urged the people to not go into the flood waters for bath or taking selfies or making videos. He said that the water current is very strong, sometimes the water level rises rapidly, and even experiences swimmers will not be able to withstand it.
#WATCH | Delhi | It is very unfortunate.. those three children went swimming in the river.. we have warned so many times that do not go near the rivers…This is a very big crisis..everyone should work together and not play the blame game: Arvind Kejriwal, CM of Delhi on three… pic.twitter.com/GUxwv4a3EU
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2023
The city is witnessing a flood-like situation, with several areas inundated as the Yamuna river breached the danger mark following incessant rainfall, the highest recorded in the last 45 years.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted that Delhi will likely receive light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms for the next 4-5 days.
