Darbhanga, June 29: Two children from the same family died, while the third was undergoing treatment at a private clinic in Afzala Balia village under Biroul police station.

The three children — Mukhtar Ansari (12), Kismat Ansari (11) and Sabana Khatun (14) — were rushed to Biroul Primary Health Centre (PHC) after they complained of fever and stomach pain yesterday. Seeing the state of the kids, the primary health centre referred them to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

Zabar Ansari, father of the children, however, preferred a local private clinic to DMCH in a hurry. One of the boys died on the way to the private clinic while the other one took his last breath one-and-a-half hours after getting admitted to the nursing home.

Zabar’s daughter Sawana Khatun was being treatment at the clinic even though the chief medical officer (CMO) of Biroul PHC, G.N. Jha, had referred her to DMCH. Her condition had not improved since yesterday, said sources.

Jha told The Telegraph: “The three children brought here for treatment were running high fever. When one of them started gasping, I referred the three to DMCH after initial treatment. I looked for signs of snakebite over their bodies but could not find anything to substantiate that claim.” After getting information about the death of the two children, the civil surgeon, Dr Lakhendra Prasad, has asked a doctor to investigate the matter and report him.

The civil surgeon told The Telegraph: “I have been informed that the two children died because of snakebite. To know the veracity of the claim, I have sent a doctor to investigate the matter so that proper action can be taken.”

He further said that it would be difficult to reach to any conclusion if the girl admitted at the private clinic was not sent to DMCH for overall examination.

Dr Shukla, the investigating officer, reached Biroul and started investigation along with Dr G.N. Jha and prepared a report after inquiring about the symptoms developed before the death of the two children. This report has not been made public. According to Dr Shukla, the three children were neither suffering from encephalitis nor were bitten by any snake, as claimed by the parents. “The cause of the death can be detected only after clinical examination. The symptoms of the two boys before death do not match either encephalitis or snakebite. The girl needs oxygen that is not available at the private clinic,” Shukla said.

“It is imperative for the female child getting treatment at the private clinic to go to DMCH so that an in-depth examination can be done before reaching any conclusion,” he added.

Police tried their best to send the bodies of the two children for postmortem but the villagers started protesting and the police were forced to hand over the bodies to the family for last rites.