Three children drown in Ghaziabad pond

Three children drowned in a pond formed by sewage behind a housing society at Banthla in Loni here, police said Friday. The children, identified as Abhishek (9), Altamash (8) and Akram (11) of Ambedkar colony, had gone missing since Thursday night and their bodies were recovered on Friday, they said.

While the family members found the bodies of two of the boys floating, the body of the third child was fished out by a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The pond was located behind Bharat group housing society.

Upon getting information about the incident, a police team reached the spot and summoned an NDRF team to rescue the third child. The child was fished out after a marathon exercise, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Neeraj Kumar Jadaun said. The Loni police have received a complaint in which family members of the deceased children have alleged that due the negligence of the builder concerned, the pond came into existence as the society's sewer and wastewater had accumulated in it, the SP said.

An FIR will be lodged under relevant sections of the law. An inquiry will be conducted and the report will be sent to the district magistrate, Jadaun said. The family members said a pit was formed after soil was dug out from the plot owned by the builder. Over time, the pit took the shape of a pond due to the accumulation of sewer and rainwater, they said.