PRAYAGRAJ, May 22 -- Four minor girls died after drowning in a pit filled with water on the banks of Bakulahi river in Pratapgarh on Thursday morning, even as allegations of illegal mining of mud from the riverside did the rounds.

Five minor girls, all residents of Dihwa Jalalpur village, had gone to the riverside to dig mud for stoves in their houses, in Chetisingh-Ka-Pura village, under the Maheshganj police station on Thursday morning, in Pratapgarh. While digging the mud the girls fell into the pit and started drowning. By the time villagers rushed to the site and pulled the girls out, four of them had died in the mishap.

Of the four girls who died, three were sisters, while the fourth girl was a neighbour.

The four girls who died ...