Three girls aged between eight and 10 died after a mound of earth collapsed on them while they were collecting soil to plaster their home in Sultanganj village of Bihar’s Kishanganj district on Wednesday, police said. The incident occurred in Dighalbank block, where the children had reportedly gone to dig soil near their house.
The deceased were identified as Nagma Parveen, 10, and Nisha Parveen, 9, both daughters of Jamdesh Alam, and Ruby Khatoon, 8, daughter of Faryad Alam. Jamdesh and Faryad are brothers, according to the report. The girls were cousins and had been collecting soil for household use when the earth gave way.
According to Dighalbank police, a large portion of the mound suddenly caved in and buried the children. Nearby residents responded after hearing the commotion and began removing the soil by hand. The girls were pulled out and taken to hospital, but they had already died by then, their family said.
Jamdesh Alam told the Times of India that the three girls had gone to collect soil without informing anyone at home. He said the family was alerted when someone arrived at the house after the collapse. The family members then rushed to the site, removed the soil and took the children to hospital.
The girls’ grandfather, Abdul Malik, said family members had been asleep when the incident occurred and learned about it only after the children became trapped. Another girl who was accompanying the three children managed to escape from the site, according to the report.
The incident has brought attention to the immediate safety risks involved in digging or collecting soil from unstable earth mounds close to residential areas. The report does not establish whether the mound was part of an authorised excavation or identify who controlled the site. Police said an inquiry had been ordered into the circumstances of the collapse.
Dighalbank station house officer Bipin Kumar said the family initially refused to allow a post-mortem examination. The bodies were later sent to the sadar hospital for autopsy. The police inquiry is expected to examine how the soil was being collected, the condition and location of the mound, and the circumstances preceding the collapse.
The incident also underscores the dangers faced by families who use locally collected soil for basic home-plastering work, although the supplied report does not provide details of the household’s economic condition or the availability of alternative materials. The next formal step cited by police is the inquiry into the deaths and the site conditions.
