Kolkata, Feb 12 : Four school kids died in a sudden cave-in of earth near the India-Bangladesh borders at Chopra in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district on Monday, officials said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) jawans posted there immediately rushed the four kids to a nearby health centre where a doctor declared them dead.

Local people have claimed that the four kids were playing in an area where the BSF jawans were digging for the purpose of installing a drain pipe. Probably, because of the digging, the adjacent underground soil softened significantly which led to the accident.

Tension prevailed in the area following the unfortunate incident. The local residents have demanded that it should be investigated whether the soil- digging work was done with necessary permission for that.

However, a BSF official in the area said that such allegations are unfortunate especially after the jawans of the force tried their best to rescue the kids by removing the soil. "Our men just played the role of rescuers," he added.

/IANS