Five, including 3 minors, drown in drain

Five people, including three minors, died after drowning in a drain in south west Delhi's Chhawla area on Saturday morning. The victims are Sahidul,10, Sabikul, 9, Lalchand,7, Afsal Ali ,30, and Hasidul, 30.

The five were migrants from Assam and were working as rag pickers in the village area. According to police officials, the three minors went to pick up garbage near their houses and jumped into the drain for the same. "As the children didn't come back for a while, Afsal and Hasidul, their relatives, came to look for them. Upon seeing the three in the drain, they jumped in, in an attempt to save them, but failed to come out themselves," said a senior police official. When the five of them didn't return, neighbours reached the drain trying to look for them. But when they failed to find them, they called the police.

"There is a drain near their residence which meets a bigger drain across the main road. All five of them were found at the larger one as they were stuck in quicksand. We are yet to identify the exact cause of death," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West) Surender Kumar.

"The PCR reached first after which officials from fire department were also called. Initially, they couldn't find them but eventually all five were found stuck in the drain," he added.