BETTIAH, Oct. 3 -- Four minor girls drowned in East Champaran district on Friday and a pathway collapsed in West Champaran even as receding floodwaters have opened a new chapter of woes across the Champaran region with the marooned people grappling with pain and loss, with collapsed huts and pucca houses, damaged belongings and property they once prized now lying in ruins. Confirming the death, Paharpur's station house officer (SHO) Devendra Kumar said the incident occurred when five girls had gone to the pond near the village to bathe at Bankat village in Inarwabhar panchayat under jurisdiction of his police station. "While, one the five girls went deep inside the pond and started drowning, four others rushed to her rescue and they too were drowned. However, hearing the distress cry, the locals rescued one of them but four others died," the station house officer said, adding bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their families after postmortem. They have been identified as Sonawati Kumari (13) and her sister Phoolwati Kumari (10), Sonali Kumari (10) and Pratibha Kumari (12) - residents of Bankat village. Phuliyakhad, about 20 km south-west of West Champaran district headquarters Bettiah, now resembles a teardrop-shaped island when viewed from above. A five-metre stretch of the Champaran embankment along the Gandak river collapsed here on September 29, inundating the village completely. Video footage shot after the water receded slightly shows the ruins of pucca houses and remains of collapsed huts floating in the current, while several other pucca houses have suffered partial damage. For 70-year-old Bindeshwari Das, a visit to his village was a devastating experience. He and his brother Rajendra Das, sons of the late Lakhu Das, were stunned as they found their homes razed to the ground by the raging water. Their co-villagers Chandreshwar Das and Sita Ram Das, too, shared a similar fate. Bindeshwari Das, however, hardly had the inkling about the fate he and his family had in store when he performed grihpravesh of his house immediately after the festival of Holi this year. "Ours was a cosy house with ten rooms in it which I had got it built with hard earned money and savings made all through my life. I hoped this house would provide comfort at this juncture of life. But, all hopes have shattered now," said Das. Rajendra Das, 52, had a house with three rooms talking to Hindustan Times over the phone. "They were fair enough for us. But, they all have gone cindered with our belongings as well. Flood has reduced us hand to mouth status and left us with nothing for tomorrow," said Rajendra Das, ruing at his own helplessness....