Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Teenager drowns attempting to cross mountain brook on way to school in remote South Sikkim

NAMCHI, 29 July: A teenager was swept away at Shamsee-Sokpey village in remote South Sikkim today as she attempted to ford a mountain brook on her way to school. In a disturbing example of misplaced priorities, this stream, which people of the village have to wade across on a regular basis, has not been provided with even a footbridge. While the Khapparey Khola is harmless most of the year, the continuous rainfall of the past few days has swollen it.
When a group of students reached its banks on their way to school this morning, 15-year-old Binita Gurung, a class VI student at Sokpey Junior High School, stepped in first to check the current and depth.
As her friends watched from the banks, Binita lost her footing and was swept away by the stream. This was at around 8:30 a.m. The incident happened so fast that none of her friends got a chance to save her.
The children rushed back home to inform their parents about the mishap and a search operation, led by police personnel from Lingmoo Police Out-Post was launched. The teenager’s dead body was recovered downstream.
The incident, much as it has cast a pall of gloom over the village, has also triggered new fears among parents as they realise the danger they put their children in everyday they send them to school.
Meanwhile, the dead body of the deceased was brought to Singtam Hospital for autopsy and later handed over to the family.

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