Gumla: Two minor cousins drowned in a rainwater-filled pit dug for a septic tank at Longa village, around 10 km from Bharno police station in Gumla district, on Saturday evening, police said on Sunday.The victims were identified as Arman Ansari, 8, son of Aslam Ansari, and Zaid Imam, 6, son of Minarul Ansari.Police said the children were playing near their homes when they reached the unfinished septic tank pit, which had filled with rainwater. Rain had also made the soil around the pit slippery.“Zaid slipped into the pit first. When Arman saw him drowning, he tried to pull him out but also fell in. Both children drowned,” ASI Ramji Baitha, who visited the spot, said.Baitha said the pit belonged to one of the two families. Construction of the septic tank had been deferred until after the monsoon.Locals spotted the boys in the pit and raised an alarm. Their family members rushed to the site and pulled them out, but both had died by then, the officer said, quoting the families.The deaths have plunged Longa into mourning, with shocked residents gathering at the homes of the bereaved families on Sunday.
