Four youth drown in a pond dug by illegal miners in Uttar Pradesh

Four teenagers, including a girl, drowned in a pond dug by illegal miners near Nayagaon Dam on river Rapti in Rampur village of Gorakhpur, the hometown of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

During heavy rains in Gorakhpur in the last one week, the pond was filled with water. About nine kids from Rasoolpur area went to play near the dam on Friday morning. Four among them went to take bath in pond while the remaining continued to play. Three knew swimming but 13-year-old Pinky did not know how to swim and started drowning. She shouted for help and on hearing her cries her brother Ujair, 14, jumped into the pond to save her but drowned along with her. Ameen, 16, and Rehmat Ali, 12, too jumped into the pond to rescue them but all four of them drowned.

Those who survived raised an alarm and villagers rushed to the site to call the police. Before the swimmers could be called in, bodies of the four youths came out from the pond on its own after half an hour.