Alipurduar, June 7: A seven-year-old boy drowned in a pond, where he had gone with his younger sister, in a village here today. The girl was admitted to a hospital and her condition is serious.

Pramit Hazda and his sister Bemika, 4, did not know swimming and they went to the pond near their house at Taleswarguri, 15km from here, for a bath without informing their parents.

The tragedy occurred when the family was preparing to leave for church in the morning.

“I was in an adjacent house, where my elder brother stays, when a boy in the neighbourhood came screaming,” said Binoy Hazda, the children’s father.

The four-year-old Rosen Marandi told Binoy that he had seen Bemika sinking in the pond. Binoy rushed to the waterbody and with the help of villagers, fished out his son and daughter.

Both the boy and the girl were unconscious and they were taken to Jahsrdanga Block hospital. The doctor on duty declared Pramit brought-dead and advised that the girl be shifted to Alipurduar Hospital.

The doctor attending to the girl at the Alipurduar Hospital said her condition was serious and she was put under observation for 24 hours.

Binoy, a farmer, said: “Every Sunday, we go to church for prayers. My wife was preparing food and we were to reach the church at 8am. Both my children did not know swimming. My wife Babli is inconsolable after the tragedy.”