In two separate incidents in Rajasthan, eight children died, police said on Sunday.
In a tragic incident, five children were suffocated to death after they jumped into a grain storage container while playing at Himmatasar village in Bikaner district on Sunday.
According to police, the container was almost empty and the children jumped into it one after another while playing. Accidentally the container got closed thereby, trapping the kids inside.
Sevaram (4), Ravina (7), Radha (5), Poonam (8) and Mali were rushed to a government hospital where doctors declared them brought dead, SP (Bikaner) Priti Chandra said.
When the mother of the kids came home, and couldn’t find them, she began searching for them. When she opened the container she found the kids trapped inside it, she said.
In the other incident, three children were killed and one injured when a portion of the soil caved in on them while they were playing in Jhunjhunu district Saturday evening.
They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared three of them dead on arrival, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Prince and Suresh, both 7-year-old, and Sona (10), police said.
The injured boy is under treatment, they said.
The bodies were handed over to family members after post-mortem.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condoled the tragic deaths of the children. He said the deaths were heart-wrenching, and prayed for the departed soul and wished speedy recovery of the injured.