Jharkhand rains: Two boys found dead in collapsed well, girl killed in house collapse

Heavy rainfall in Jharkhand has led to tragic incidents, with the bodies of two schoolboys recovered on Thursday after being trapped for over 22 hours in a collapsed well in Khunti district. In a separate incident, a 10-year-old girl died when her mud house caved in due to the incessant rain in Ranchi district. The state has been experiencing widespread disruption, including collapsed infrastructure and rising river levels.

The two boys, aged nine and ten, were near an under-construction well in Murhu panchayat when it collapsed around 2 pm on Wednesday. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team conducted a continuous rescue operation, finally recovering their bodies around 12:30 pm on Thursday. Meanwhile, the young girl was alone in her house in Murpa village, Ranchi, when it collapsed amidst the downpour.

The relentless rain has also caused a portion of a bridge over the Banai River in Khunti's Torpa to collapse, disrupting the Khunti-Simdega road. An abandoned residential building in Gamharia, Seraikela-Kharsawan district, also collapsed, though no casualties were reported as it had been vacated and declared unsafe. Several districts, including Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharswan, and East Singhbhum, have been heavily affected, leading to school closures.

Authorities in Jamshedpur have issued an alert as the Kharkhai and Swarnarekha rivers are swelling to near-danger levels, prompting warnings for residents in catchment areas. The Ranchi Meteorological Centre has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Ranchi, Lohardaga, Gumla, Khunti, and Simdega, attributing it to a low-pressure system over northeast Jharkhand.