Varanasi: Two siblings allegedly drowned in a canal in Mathela village under Balua police station limits in Chahaniya area of Chandauli district on Monday.The deceased were identified as Kshitij Kushwaha (9) and his four-year-old sister, Sakshi Kushwaha.According to reports, the siblings were returning home from school when they stopped to play on a makeshift cloth swing tied to a branch of a neem tree near the canal.While playing, Sakshi accidentally fell into the canal. Kshitij jumped in to rescue her, but both children were swept away and drowned. Their sister, Lakshmi, ran home and alerted family members.On receiving the information, relatives and villagers rushed to the spot and launched a search operation.Officials informed the irrigation department and got the canal’s water flow stopped. After several hours of efforts, villagers recovered the bodies of both children from the canal.Balua police reached the spot and took the siblings to the Chahaniya Primary Health Centre, where doctors declared them dead. The bodies were later sent for postmortem examination.
