Kids drown in Teesta

TT, Gangtok, May 6: Three children who had gone swimming in the Teesta at Lower Singbel village yesterday evening drowned in the river. 

The bodies of siblings Srijana Rai, 8, Roshan Rai, 7, and their neighbour’s daughter Kamala Subba, 7, all residents of Singbel in East Sikkim, were fished out around 4pm. “The children went to the riverside while their parents were away at work. When the parents returned around 3pm, they did not find the children and began looking for them. 

After almost an hour, the parents spotted the children’s clothes on the riverbank. They along with the local people started searching for the kids in the river and around 4pm, all three children were taken out of the Teesta. 

The kids were taken to Singtam District Hospital where they were declared dead,” said an officer at Singtam police station. 

The parents of the children work as carpenters in nearby construction sites. 

“The children always played in the village. But yesterday, they went to the riverside (almost half a kilometre away) without informing anyone. 

Their parents are in a state of shock,” said Bimal Rai, a neighbour. He added that the kids did not know how to swim.