Jharsuguda: A two-and-a-half-year-old toddler drowned on Tuesday afternoon after falling into a water-filled trench dug for railway line construction near Jharsuguda district’s Siria Bagicha.
The deceased child, identified as Kartik Sa, was a resident of Siria Bagicha. According to police officials, the child accidentally fell into the seven to eight-foot-deep trench at around 2:30pm. The trench was located just 20 meters away from the Kartik’s home.
Shanti Devi, the child’s mother, was working inside her house when she realised her son was missing. During her search, a passerby alerted her to something floating in the trench. A local immediately jumped into the water, pulled the child out, and rushed him to the Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital. However, doctors declared the child brought dead.