Mumbai: Two 11-year-old boys drown in pit dug up for pipeline repair work

Photo for representational purpose

Two boys aged 11 drowned in a water-filled pit which was dug up for repairing a pipeline in Antop Hill locality here on Monday evening, police said. The incident took place in the CGS Colony area and the bodies were retrieved and sent to a civic hospital for postmortem, they said. The deceased were residents of the same area and students of Class 5, the police said.

A water pipeline repair work was going on in the area and a pit was dug up as part of the project and it was filled with water, they said. It was not yet clear whether the kids jumped into the pit or accidentally fell into it, the police said. Necessary action will be taken if any negligence is found on part of those involved in the water pipeline work, they said. Family members of the deceased said they were not aware how the kids reached the spot where the incident took place. "We were at home when some people came searching for our kids.

Also Read: Mumbai: Out for a swim, two boys drown in sea

They showed us pictures of our kids and we identified them. They then informed us about the drowning incident," said a member of one of the grieving families. It was a case of sheer negligence, he alleged. "If the contractor had dug up the pit, he should have covered it for safety of local residents. But it was kept open resulting in our kids falling into it," he said. The Antop Hill police have registered an accidental death report and started investigation, an official added.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliabilitsy and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the contents in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever