Ranchi, Oct 17 (IANS): Six children drowned near Lotwa dam in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district on Tuesday.

They were all Class11-12 students of Hazaribagh's Mount Egmont School and had come for a walk on the dam side. The students were identified as Rajneesh Pandey, Sumit Kumar, Mayank Singh, Praveen Gop, Ishan Singh and Shivsagar. Bodies of all six have been recovered and were sent for autopsy.

Officials said that seven students had gone to the dam site and they decided to go down to take a bath. It is being said that one of them went into the deep water and while trying to save him, others drowned. One student somehow managed to swam out.

Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Hemant Soren have expressed deep grief over the incident.

"Heart is saddened by the sad news of drowning of six children in Lotwa Dam of Hazaribagh district. Relief and rescue work is being done by the district administration. May God grant peace to the souls of the children who died in the accident and give strength to the bereaved families to bear this difficult time of grief," Soren posted on X, formerly Twitter.