TURA: In a tragic incident two young children, a brother-sister duo lost their lives after they fell into a pond and drowned at village Babupara of Mendipather on Sunday afternoon.
Police sources say that the incident reportedly took place around 4 O’clock in the afternoon when the elder sister of ten years, Akime Chisa N Marak and her six year old brother Pringsal were riding a cycle near a pond in the village.
They reportedly lost balance and fell into the water leading to respiratory impairment as a result of being inside water. Both children were rushed to the local government hospital at Resubelpara and given medical treatment, but sadly passed away after sometime. They were laid to rest on Monday.
Drowning is a serious risk for particularly young children and adults and in the Garo Hills the highest number of drowning cases fall in these two categories. In the last two years, almost all drowning cases have involved children in the age group of under 10 years and persons 15-24 years of age.
Some of the most tragedies that occurred last year were of a 9 year old child who drowned in a man-made lake at the Eco Park camp at Ganol, near Tura, three teenage boys who drowned in a pond in Gambegre area and two teenage sisters returning from school who went to cool themselves in a tributary of the mighty Simsang river at Williamnagar and drowned.