New Delhi: A wedding function turned tragic after 1 guest died and at least 10 other people were injured after falling into an open pit at an under construction site nearby. The incident happened late Thursday night. All 11 people fell into a 30-foot septic tank, said reports.
The accident reportedly happened while 1 of the guests at the wedding in Bhandup West was chasing a group of youngsters who had made inappropriate gestures at a woman.
1 dead, 10 injured after falling into pit
According to reports, some wedding guests were standing outside the venue Matoshri Hall, when suddenly 3 youths on a 2-wheeler crossed them. The youth allegedly made inappropriate gestures at a woman standing with the other guests. Following this, one of the guests, 25-year-old Bhalchandra Falle began chasing them. He reportedly fell into the pit, which was covered with metal and wooden planks.
In an attempt to rescue Falle, 5 of the other wedding guests and 3 labourers working at the site also slipped and fell into the pit which was filled with 5 feet water. According to fire brigade officials, the people who came to rescue the man who had fallen into the pit first, stepped onto the planks used to cover the pit. This led to pressure on the structure and the gaps in the metal plank gave way, causing the people to fall inside the pit, one after another.
Finally labourers at the site managed to rescue 9 of the people who had fallen inside, said a report in the Times of India. According to fire department officials, after receiving the call, by the time the personnel arrived at the scene, 9 people had already been rescued by locals. He said that locals and labourers used ladders to enter the pit and pulled out people from inside.
The injured have been admitted to hospital. When the fire brigade arrived, they rescued only one person from inside the pit. He was identified as Harishankar Karva (43).
Falle was rushed to hospital by the locals, but was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The others who are injured included, Shreyas Surve (25), Harishankar Karva (43), Aniket Kadam (26), Jaideep Shah (21), Sanket Juwatkar, (25), Aditya Aaher (26), Aniket Patil (20), Ankit Rohit (19), Jaywant Farsane (31) and Raman Yadav (26).
Fire brigade personnel pump out water from pit, builder booked
After all the injured were moved to the hospital, the fire brigade personnel deployed submersible pumps to drain out the water. One of the officials described the site as complicated, given the location and the site around it.
The BMC also deployed its personnel to help the fire brigade to pump out the water from the pit. Finally by 3 pm on Friday, the entire pit was emptied.
The police meanwhile have registered an FIR in the matter, after a complaint from a relative of the deceased. They have booked Shraddha Developers which was carrying out the building construction. The company has been booked under sections 106 (1), 125, 125 (a), 125 (b), and 290 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Investigations are on in the matter. No arrests have however been made so far, said the Mumbai Police officials.