Two sisters aged nine and 11 and a man have died after falling into a 10-foot-deep mud hole.

The tragic incident took place on an empty plot of land off the PR-082 state highway in the municipality of Rondon in the southern Brazilian state of Parana on Sunday, 3rd October.

The lot where the accident took place had been used as a lorry park, and a large hole on the plot of land had recently been filled in.

However, during the heavy rains that recently hit the region, water seeped into the ground and a large mud hole two to four metres (seven to 13 feet) deep was formed.

According to the emergency and rescue services, the victims were sisters Maria Eduarda Camargo da Silva, 9, and Stela Camargo da Silva, 11, and Elielson Fonseca Queiroz, 33.

According to the news outlet RIC Mais, the man was unrelated to the girls, but was a family friend. The news outlet Plantao Maringa, however, reports that he was the girls’ uncle.

Both news sources report that the girls were playing in the vicinity at the time.

According to the fire brigade, Maria Eduarda was the first to fall in the mudhole. Her older sister and the man then went over to try to rescue her, but they ended up falling in themselves.

All three then ended up disappearing beneath the surface and drowning.

According to Plantao Maringa, an onlooker managed to rescue one of the girls, who was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Firemen recovered the remaining victims’ bodies, and all three were taken to the coroner’s office for post-mortems.

It is not clear if the police are investigating the case, and no information on the victims’ funerals was reported.