Four of the six children who died within a week in an NGO-run ashram in Indore in Madhya Pradesh succumbed to cholera, a senior official said on Friday.

Collector Ashish Singh said the management of Shri Yugpurush Dham Bal Ashram, where the deaths took place, delayed in intimating the district administration about the infection in time.

"Based on test of water samples from the ashram, we can say cholera was the cause of death of four out of six children. It has been proved that cholera infection spread because of contaminated water at the ashram. Water there is supplied through tankers. The cause of the other two deaths cannot be said for sure," Singh told reporters.

There was a water purifier with reverse osmosis technology at the ashram but it needs to be checked if the device was working during the cholera outbreak, Singh added.

"If the ashram management had informed the administration about the first case in time, fewer children would have fallen ill. Perhaps, we could have saved one or two lives. This mistake has definitely taken place on the part of the ashram," Singh asserted.

An official on the probe panel said a doctor at the district hospital had found two children suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea on June 27 but the administration was not informed by the ashram management.

"It was only when the administration's team reached the ashram for a check on July 2 that the two children were hospitalised. These children are mentally weak and cannot speak about their ordeal to others," the official said.

Four children died in the ashram between July 1-2 after suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea, while one child died on June 30 of brain seizure, he said.

"Our high level inquiry committee comprising senior officials and private sector doctors is working in a transparent manner. The probe has revealed the ashram hid the information of only one child. This case is also being probed by our panel," the official said.

Meanwhile, the official said the condition of 60 children admitted in the city's Government Chacha Nehru Children's Hospital after the cholera outbreak in the ashram was improving.

"Twelve children, after recovery, have been referred to a government ashram in Pardeshipura area. Twenty more children are expected to be discharged from the hospital soon," the official said.

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