Bhubaneswar, Sept. 19: Two schoolchildren, including a girl, were drowned while bathing in a pond at Bira Purushottampur village in Chandanpur police limits, 20km from Puri.

The deceased have been identified as Sumana Behera, 12, and her brother Anand, 7, while their 13-year-old cousin Bhima Behera was rescued by villagers. He was later admitted to the Puri District Headquarters Hospital, where his condition is said to be stable.

Eyewitnesses said the incident took place around 10am after the three returned from morning classes in a village school. "The trio decided to take a bath in the village pond. No one else was there at that time. I heard a child screaming and rushed to their rescue. However, by that time two others had already drowned," said Krutibas Pradhan. Later the two bodies were fished out.

The incident shattered the parents of the children so much that they kept rubbing the bodies with the hope to revive them. "We were unaware that they were going to take a bath in the pond. I can't believe that my son and daughter are dead," said their father.

In October last year four class IX students had drowned while taking a bath in the main canal of Puri near Barang on the city outskirts. The deceased were among the 14 Government High School, Chandrasekharpur Phase I students who had gone to the canal after visiting Nadankanan zoo. The school authorities faced criticism after one survivor alleged that they visited the canal after the school barred them from attending classes for 15 days. The state government had ordered an administrative probe into the incident.