Six including 5 children drown in pond in Ludhiana, Punjab CM condoles deaths

• Five children and a male rescuer died after drowning in a pond in Punjab's Ludhiana. Police said that the children, aged between 4 and 10, included four siblings. Incident took place at Mangarh village of Koom kalan on Friday afternoon. Police added that one of the children entered the pond to take a bath & he slipped. All others drowned as they jumped into the pond in a bid to rescue him. Victims have been identified as Sonu, Chhoti, Aarti, Laxmi, Mohammad Kaleem, Rahul. Victims belonged to families of labourers, while Sonu, Chhoti, Aarti, Laxmi were siblings. Joint Commissioner of Police Deepak Parikh said all six bodies have been taken out. CM Capt Amarinder Singh announced an ex-gratia of ₹50,000 to the kin of the deceased.