Man Accused of Running Over His Kids With Backhoe

Two young children are dead in Texas, where their father is charged with killing them with a backhoe. Vijender Chauhan, 40, had been driving a John Deere backhoe close to his home near Roanoke on Saturday evening "with multiple children and adults riding on various moving parts" of the machinery, a Texas Department of Public Safety rep says, per the Denton Record-Chronicle. Chauhan's 11-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter were in the bucket of the backhoe when he suddenly caused the bucket to drop, the rep adds. Shivraj Chauhan and Sonakshi Chauhan fell to the ground and were fatally run over, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Two other children and an adult who'd been riding on the digger were taken to hospitals following the incident. The adult was described as seriously injured. Their relationship to Vijender Chauhan is not clear. The uninjured man was arrested early Sunday and booked into Denton County Jail on two counts of manslaughter, three counts of endangering a child, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was later released on $280,000 bond. Meanwhile, Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth acknowledged "the sorrow we all feel for the loss of our young students," and promised supports for those grieving, per the Star-Telegram. (More manslaughter stories.)