3 schoolgirls drown in village pond in Moradabad

Bareilly: Three schoolgirls, aged 8 to 10, drowned in a village pond in Moradabad's Bhagatpur area on Tuesday evening. Four girls—Nikhat Khan, 8, her sister Uzma Khan, 10, and their friends Aradhya, 8, and Priyanshi, 8, from Thiriyadan village, went to bathe in a pond around 4:30 pm.While bathing, Uzma, Nikhat, and Aradhya got trapped in deep water. Priyanshi escaped and alerted villagers, who rescued the girls with help from expert divers. The three were taken to the community health centre, where they were declared dead. Uzma was in class 4, while the others were in class 2. All came from families of marginal farmers.Uzma and Nikhat's father, Mohd Shakir, said, "My daughters were happy when they returned home from school. In the evening, they went out to play with their friends as the weather was pleasant."Police and officials reached the scene and sent the bodies for autopsy. SP (Rural) Kunwar Akash Singh said, "Three girls drowned while bathing in the pond. The fourth girl is still in shock after the incident. The families will be entitled to compensation under the state relief scheme."