Motihari, Oct. 3 -- At least four girls drowned while bathing in a pond during Jitiya festival rituals in Bankat Nuniya Toli under Paharpur police station limits in East Champaran, Sadar Hospital, Motihari hospital manager Kaushal Kishore Dubey said.

Five girls who had gone to the pond with their families to take a bath started drowning in the deep water. Local villagers managed to rescue one girl, while four others died. The villagers pulled the bodies out of the pond.

After receiving information about the incident, police reached the spot and sent the bodies of the deceased girls to Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.

Women from Bankat Nuniya Toli had gone to the pond to take a bath on the occasion of Jitiya. Children from their families...