Gonda (UP): Five children of a family drowned in a pond in Rasul Khanpur Mishrauli village here on Thursday, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place when the children had gone to the pond to collect mud and one of them slipped into it, they said.

In a bid to save him, others jumped into the pond and drowned. Their bodies were later fished out with the help of locals.

One Ajay Pandey, who also jumped into the pond to save the children, was somehow rescued by villagers and admitted to a hospital for treatment, they said.

Senior officers and local MLA Prabhat Verma reached the spot and the children were cremated in their presence.

The children were identified as Aditya alias Chanchal (8), Shivakant (6), Ragini (8), Prakashini (10) and Muskan (14), the police said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled their deaths.