Delhi floods: Three minors drown in northwest Delhi

Police said that the deceased were residents of Jahangirpuri H block, and had gone to take a bath in the ditch

Three children, aged between 10 and 13 years, drowned on Friday in a ditch filled with water in the flooded Mukundpur area in Northwest Delhi, police said, adding that their bodies were recovered and sent for postmortem examination.

People wade through a waterlogged ITO on Friday. (Sanjeev Verma/ HT Photo)

Police said that the deceased were residents of Jahangirpuri H Block, and had gone to take a bath in the ditch with two other boys.

“The five children had gone to take bath in a waterlogged ditch near the metro construction site at Mukundpur Chowk on Friday afternoon. After some time, when two of them saw their friends drowning, they raised an alarm following which some kanwariyas passing by jumped into the ditch to rescue them. Some police personnel deployed there also jumped in. But none of the boys could be saved,” a senior police officer said, asking not to be named.

The children were taken to Babu Jagjiwan Ram Hospital, where the doctors declared them brought dead. “After the postmortem examination, we will hand over the bodies to the their families,” the officer said.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed grief over the incident, and urged people to take precautions.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said that they received a call at around 2.56 pm about the drowning incident. “A fire tender was immediately rushed to ditch near the metro construction site. It returned at 4.30pm and our staff informed that three children had drowned,” said a DFS official.

Meanwhile, DMRC refuted police claims that the incident took place near a metro construction site, saying that they have not received any such information. “DMRC’s sites are properly barricaded and entry is strictly regulated only for authorised personnel,” said Anuj Dayal, DMRC’s principal executive director (corporate communications).

CM Kejriwal said that the deaths of the children were “very sad”. “The children had gone to take a bath in the river (water). We have requested people many times that they should stay away from the river water. Many people are going to see the floodwater. They should not do that because the current is so strong that no matter how strong a swimmer you are, you will not be able to withstand the current,” he said.