In the night, villagers spotted slippers of the boys outside the pit, police said. (Representational)
Three teenage boys playing on the bank of a dry river were buried alive when a mound of clay caved in on them near Khavda village in Bhuj tehsil of Gujarat's Kutch district, an official said on Monday.
The boys, all in the age group of 13 years to 16 years, were playing inside a bunker-like pit dug up by them on the river bank at the time of the incident, Khavda police sub-inspector JP Sodha said.
The bodies of Munir Kader Sama, 13, Raza Rashid Sama, 14 and Kalimulla Sama 16, all residents of Dhrobana village near Khavda, were found on Sunday late night, he said.
"The three boys used to play inside a bunker-like hole dug up by them on the river bank near their village. On Sunday evening, their relatives started searching for them after the boys did not return home," said the police.
In the night, some villagers spotted slippers of the boys outside the pit on the river bank, he said.
"As per primary investigation, when the boys were playing inside the pit, the clay suddenly caved in, giving them no chance to escape. Though villagers pulled the boys out and rushed them to a nearby hospital, they were declared brought dead by doctors" he said, adding that further investigation is on.