Thirteen women and children, all girls, died after falling into a well while performing a marriage ritual in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district, police said on Thursday.
The incident, in which at least 10 people were also injured, took place at Naurangiya Tola village when an iron grille, they were sitting on, broke, they said.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the incident.On Wednesday night, the pre-wedding ritual of “haldi” was being performed. Some women and children were sitting on the iron grille and it suddenly broke and fell into the well, District Magistrate S Rajalingam said.At least 10 people were also injured in the incident at the village under the Nebua Naurangiya police station area, he said, adding that they had been hospitalised.According to information received so far, 13 people had died – Pooja (19), Shashi Kala (15), Shakuntala (35), Mamta Devi (35), Meera (25), Pooja (20), Pari (1), Jyoti (15), Radhika (16), Sundari (15), Aarti (10), Pappi (20) and Manu (18), officials said.They said that an assistance of Rs 4 lakh would be given to the family of each deceased.The bodies had been sent for post-mortem and the case is being investigated, Rajalingam said.
