Rajgarh, July 6 (IANS) A five-year-old boy, his 11-year-old sister and their paternal aunt drowned in a deep stone crusher quarry in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district on Monday, in a heart-rending tragedy that has once again raised concerns over safety at abandoned mining sites.

The victims were identified as Nikhra Pardi (5), Namrata Pardi (11) and their 35-year-old aunt, Sairabai Pardi, according to police.

The incident occurred near Biaora, when the children, accompanied by their mother, went to the quarry to bathe. According to police, the siblings entered deeper waters while trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the quarry. Their aunt jumped in to rescue them but also drowned.

“Three members of the same family died after drowning in a stone crusher quarry. The bodies were recovered during a rescue operation, and a case has been registered. We have initiated an investigation into the incident,” Biaora City Police Station SHO Shivraj Singh Chauhan told press reporters.

The children’s father, Sanesh Pardi, said the family, originally from Jammusar Kadaiya village in Bairasia, was living in the area for work. He said the children did not know how to swim, and that their mother somehow managed to come out of the water, but both children drifted into the deep quarry. He added that their aunt tried to save them, but she too drowned.

The tragedy triggered panic in the area as villagers rushed to the spot and alerted the police and district administration. Police personnel, assisted by local residents, carried out a rescue operation that lasted nearly an hour before all three bodies were pulled out from the water.

They were taken to the civil hospital in Biaora, where doctors declared them dead.

Confirming the sequence of events, the SHO said the bodies were handed over to the family after post-mortem examinations, and that further investigation is underway.

Locals alleged that several stone-crusher quarries in the area, some reportedly extending 100 to 200 feet deep, have become hazardous due to inadequate safety measures and unrestricted access.

–IANS

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