RAUTAHAT: Four girls drowned in a roadside ditch in Garuda Municipality-4 of Rautahat district on Saturday afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as Sangita Kumari Saha (12) and Sunita Kumari Saha (9), Sunaina Kumari Saha (9), and Sushmita Saha (9), permanent residents of the Municipality.

It has been learned that the girls were cousins with their fathers being siblings.

The incident occurred when the girls, who were accompanying their parents in the paddy field, drowned while taking bath in the newly made ditch to avoid the scorching afternoon heat at around 2:30 pm, according to police.

Their parents left them in the field and went home to have launch, informed the Garuda-based Area Police Office.

After getting the information, a police team deployed from the Garuda Area Police Office immediately reached the incident site some 500 metres away, according to Inspector Keshav Regmi at the Garuda APO.

By the time we reached, the girls had already died, said Regmi.

Police have recovered the bodies and sent to the Gaur-based District Hospital for postmortem, added Inspector Regmi.

Earlier, the Chandranigahapur-based Road Division Office had dug the ditch while constructing the rural road linking to Gaur-Chandranigahapur road stretch in the district. The ditch was filled with water, following the incessant rainfall for the past 3 days.

The death has filled the locality with somberness and agitation over the carelessness of the Road Division Office and contractors.

Further investigation into the case is underway, said police.