Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Dec 26: In a tragic incident, three children were killed in their sleep after they got buried under the weight of cotton bales stored in the room on the night of December 25 at village Khullod in Sillod tehsil of the district, about 60 km from here.

The boys, identified as Satish Bhorkade (13), Yogesh Bhagwat (15) and Walmik Landage (12), were asleep in a room belonging to one Dahikar family, where the stored cotton bales slipped and fell on them, police said today.

The Dahikar family had allowed the three to study in the room, which was also used as a store room by the family to stock the farm produce. As usual, the three reported to have gathered and after studying slept in that room.

The whole affair came to the light when one of the villagers incidentally visited the place at around 1100 hrs to ensure whether they were really studying. He did not get any reply when he knocked on the door repeatedly. The man then climbed onto the tin roof and peeped into the room to find the boys were crushed under the cotton bales.

He immediately raised an alarm and villagers rushed to the spot.

However, by the time people could reach there and remove the cotton bales, the students had already died of suffocation. The police have taken note of the incident, the sources added.


UNI