Maharashtra horror: Six children danced at their school event; hours later, they died

Six children who had performed at their school's annual function in Dindori on Friday night were dead by midnight, along with three adults who had attended the event. The tragedy occurred when the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a well while they were returning home, about 20 km from Nashik in Maharashtra.

All the deceased were from the Durgade family, who were transported by three ambulances to Indore village in Dindori, where relatives conducted the last rites. The accident affected four families, all connected through two sets of brothers, according to a report by the Indian Express.

Ajay Durgade, the 14-year-old cousin of one of the girls who performed, remains in shock. He said the children had danced to the popular song “Mauli Mauli” from Lai Bhaari, along with other songs inspired by the army.

“We were all sitting together after the dance performances. We were all very happy, and Rakhi (Sunil’s daughter) was honoured for scoring the highest in her class. They told us they were leaving before the final song, as there would be too much traffic. That is the last I saw of them,” says Ajay with a blank expression.

“Once the last rites are over and the family recovers from the trauma, we will be asking the police for answers and what they have done. We will also question the administration about why they delayed filling up the well for so long when there were complaints earlier," another relative, Sachin Durgade, said.

Children were from the same school

The deceased were identified as Rakhi (Gunwati), a Class 4 student; Shraddha, daughter of Anil and Asha, was studying in Class 7; Shravani, daughter of Anil Durgade, was in Class 5; Shrishti was studying in Class 8; Shreyas was a Class 5 student; Samruddhi, the youngest among them, was studying in Class 1 in Nashik city; Sunil was a farmer who volunteered to drive the children to the function, and Reshma was his wife and Asha, wife of Anil Durgade, had accompanied the children to the function along with her brother-in-law. All the children were studying in Janta English School.

An uncovered 40-foot-deep well at the end of a concrete road led to the deaths of nine people in Dindori near Nashik on Friday night. Multiple factors are believed to have contributed to the hazard, including the conversion of farmland into non-agricultural land, a dispute between a local landowner and the nagar panchayat, recent road construction, and alleged negligence.

Locals said the well had existed for decades, but the surrounding area had transformed from farmland into a residential zone. Sandeep Boraste, a local contractor overseeing efforts to fill the well, noted that the land was converted in the early 2000s, allowing housing developments to come up around it.

“The nagar panchayat wanted to flatten the well as it was now NA land, but Raje appealed against it, stating that he still had a farm. Since then, the dispute has been pending, and the status quo has remained,” an officer from Dindori police station said.

“Eventually, it was a disaster waiting to happen if any outsider tried to take this route and was unaware of the uncovered deep well,” another police officer said.

Addressing why the well remained uncovered, Dindori Zilla Panchayat CEO S. Chaudhary said officials had proposed earlier this year to fill it and build a road over it, and a resolution had been passed. Residents also claimed that previous incidents involved a biker and even a cow falling into the well. Police acknowledged hearing about such cases but said no formal complaints had been filed.