Daijiworld Media Network - Koppal (SP) 

Koppal, Aug 29: Three children died on Wednesday August 28 after a sand heap came down crashing on them. The incident happened at Navali village in Kanakagiri taluk of the district. 

The children who died in this tragic incident were Sonam (7), Savitha (3) and Kavitha (1). They were the children of migrant labourers from Kolad, Raigad district, Maharashtra. The parents of the children were in Navali village since the last five months. 

The family used to eke out a living by cutting down thorny bushes near the stream, burn them, and sell charcoal obtained from it. It is learnt that illegal sand mining was conducted in a land belonging to a person from the village named Gurushanthayya. The parents were working, duly leaving the children to play in huge pits formed in the field. When the children were playing, a sand heap standing by the side suddenly fell on them, suffocating the three children to death. 

When the police came there to investigate, the villagers took them to task, and told them that sand mafia was responsible for this disaster. They wanted to know from the police why they did not take action although sand mining was going on openly. They demanded immediate suspension of revenue inspector and strict action against sand mafia. 

The bodies of the children were retrieved from inside the huge heap of sand and sent to the health centre at Kanakagiri in police vehicle. The locals also objected about not bringing ambulance to carry the bodies.