Samastipur: Ahead of Chhath Pooja celebration, 16 people came under the debris and four people, including a teenager along with two women, died while rest others were rescued safely by the local villagers in Ujayarpur’s Najirpur village.
Villagers were digging soil for making clay stove which is used by the devotees for preparing special food for the worshippers during Chhath Pooja.
Kumari Runa, Amit Kumar, Raj Kumari Devi and Lala Paswan of Najirpur are among the dead. On the other hand, Shivji Singh died of the heart attack due to the shock of the incident. He was admitted to the district hospital where the doctor declared him dead.
As per the villagers claim, several people were digging mud from Miya pond of Bhinda, which is near the ward number six and had made it like a tunnel shape.
Since 4 AM on Friday, people were cutting the soil and taking it back to their home for the Chhath Pooja purpose.
People were standing atop the tunnel design and enjoying it in the festive mood. Suddenly the shape collapsed and over two dozen people came under the erosion.
The villagers saved over a dozen people including four children and three women who were buried under the soil, but four people eventually died in the accident.
