Five kids drowned in a?pond in Bihar's Bhabhua district on Monday, police said.

Three of them were siblings and the others were their cousins. The incident took place around 12.30pm when the children had gone to bathe in a pond at Dhavapokhar village, police added.

Among the deceased are three girls — Anu Priya (12), Anshu Priya (10) and Madhu Kumari (8), daughters of Shusheel Kumar, a school teacher. The other two are his nephew Aman Kumar and niece Apurva Kumari, they said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar offered his condolences and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to each of the families of the deceased.

Bhabua SP Lalit Mohan Sharma said, "According to the victims' families, the children had gone to the pond for bathing and fishing. Upon seeing them drowning, villagers rescued the children and took them to the nearest hospital. However, all of them were declared dead by doctors."

-With PTI Input