New Delhi: The 2-year-old boy who had fallen into a borewell in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district was pulled out dead, said officials. The rescue operations lasted for 22 hours, but the rescuers failed to retrieve the boy alive.
The child identified as Bhagirath Dewasi had slipped into the borewell at around 7:30 pm on Thursday. Soon after locals and his family members informed police about the accident and a team rushed to the spot. The boy had reportedly fallen into the borewell after removing a cover on top of the structure and peering inside. He reportedly lost balance and fell in, said police officials.
Body retrieved using iron rods, ropes: Rescuers
Following the information, a police team, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the spot in Jhalaria village under Badnagar tehsil. The rescue operations began and the team started digging a parallel pit to reach the child. They also lowered a camera inside to keep watch on him and continued pumping oxygen to keep him alive.
However after a 22-hour long rescue operation, the boy was pulled out dead from inside the pit. Rescuers failed to reach him and his body was pulled out using ropes, iron roads and specialized borewell machinery, said a report in the Hindustan Times.
Boy died within hours of falling into borewell: Doctors
Ujjain superintendent of police Pradeep Mishra said that the child’s boidy was transported to a hospital in Badnagar. There a post mortem was conducted. He promised strict action against anyone found guilty of having contributed to this tragic death of the 2-year-old due to negligence. He said that the police were actively investigating the case.
Chief Medical Officer of Badnagar, Dr Ashok Patel said that the child died within hours of falling into the borewell. He said that the cause of death was drowning, as gathered from the post mortem report of the child.
‘Deeply tragic’: Madhya Pradesh CM on child’s death
Following the death, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Mohan Yadav expressed grief. He described the death of the child as “deeply tragic” and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the boy’s parents.
In a post on ‘X’, the CM said, “Despite immediate rescue efforts, the child could not be saved.”
Bhagirath’s father hails from Rajasthan’s Pali and is a shepherd. He along with other members of his community had come to the region, with their sheep and was grazing cattle in the village, when the child fell inside the borewell. According to the child’s mother, he removed the cover of the borewell and peered inside. He mistook the borewell for a bucket and stepped inside. The mother said that she rushed to save him, but by the time she reached near the borewell, it was too late and the boy had fallen into the shaft.