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Villagers in eastern India are sick from drinking contaminated water. It's a problem for many in rural India... due to a lack of clean water sources.

Villagers of the Latehar district of India's Jharkhand state have fallen sick after drinking contaminated water from nearby wells.

Many people have developed diarrhea, while some have died... no official numbers are available.

[Purushottam Singh, Villager]:
"There are 150 hutments and the villagers are not so cautious about their health. They are drinking contaminated water from the wells and are falling sick. Many have died."

Local doctors have tended to the sick, but the problem of contaminated water is yet to be addressed.

Contamination of large numbers of drinking water sources is a serious problem in the rural areas of Latehar. It's mainly due to unsanitary conditions around the drinking water sources.

An estimated 88 percent of diarrhea deaths worldwide are due to unsafe water and poor sanitation or hygiene.

India has the highest number of annual diarrhea deaths... more than 386,000.