7 child labourers drown in Rajasthan

Seven child labourers were drowned as the boat carrying them capsized in a pond in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district on Tuesday, police said.

The incident took place near Chitari town in the district, some 500 km from state capital Jaipur.

"The boat was overloaded as it was carrying 18 labourers who were on their way to a brick manufacturing unit for work. Most of them were child labourers," a police officer said.

The boat was being used to ferry several labourers from nearby villagers every day to work in brick-manufacturing units situated on the opposite bank of the pond.

He added that seven of the deceased were girls aged between 13 and 17 years.

The other 11 labourers were rescued by villagers and rescue teams roped in by the district administration.

"The rescue operation continued for almost five hours as the divers tried to locate the bodies of those who had drowned," said the officer.