Two young boys drowned in a water-filled pit dug for road construction in Dhanusha on Tuesday, police said.

According to Dhanusha District Police Office, the deceased have been identified as Ritik Sah, 7, son of Rambabu Sah, and Ritish Sah, 5, son of Shyambabu Sah. The two brothers, Rambabu and Shyambabu, belong to the same family and reside in Sarabe, ward 2 of Kamala Municipality in northeastern Dhanusha.

The pit, created during soil excavation for an agricultural road, had collected rainwater over the past two weeks. Ritik and Ritish, who had gone out to play, drowned after accidentally falling into the flooded trench.

Their bodies were discovered late in the evening after they failed to return home and a search was launched.

Drowning deaths among children are frequent during the summer and monsoon seasons in Madhesh Province. In the first two months (Shrawan and Bhadra) of the current fiscal year 2024/25, 39 children and 10 adults died due to drowning across the province's eight districts.

According to Madhesh Province Police Office, 185 people drowned in the previous fiscal year 2023/24, of whom 124 were children. In 2022/23, the number was 155, including 48 boys, 33 girls, 62 men, and 12 women.

Further investigation into Tuesday's incident is ongoing.