Man, toddler drown while crossing river in MP

A three-year-old tribal girl and her grandfather drowned while they were trying to cross a river using a tyre tube near Khattali in the district today, police said.
Shivani and her grandfather Mukam Singh (45), residents of Modasa village, were trying to cross Dohi river using a tyre tube to reach the neighbouring Bhiti village, police said.
While Mukam Singh's body has been recovered, efforts are on to trace Shivani's body from the river.
The incident took place under Khattali police station limits.
"The tube they were clinging to suddenly flipped and both of them drowned," district Superintendent of police Kumar Saurabh said.

In the absence of a foot over bridge, people living in the back water of a dam usually take cross the river using tubes to reach the neighbouring villages. However, in the process, tragic incidents like this one often taken place, a Bhiti villager said.
The villager alleged although a bridge is being built there, its construction has been going on at a "snail's pace".