Man dies after falling into sewer pit

A 33-year-old man died after he fell into a sewer pit that was allegedly left partially unguarded by the Delhi Jal Board near a construction site at Sector 5 in Outer Delhi’s Rohini sub-city, police said on Wednesday.

The deceased, identified as Sandeev Yadav, who was an auto-rickshaw driver, fell into the nearly 30-feet-deep pit around 8 pm on Tuesday night. He was drunk, said a police official.

Locals heard a loud splash and rushed near the construction site. They later called up the police, said the official. Yadav was pulled out by the fire department after which the police rushed him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. He is suspected to have died because of a head injury caused by the fall, said the official. The pit was guarded by walls on three sides, and the side towards the pavement on the road there was left unguarded. Some locals claimed to have seen the victim peeking into the pit, bending dangerously low, said the official. CCTV footage obtained from nearby premises shows that the deceased approached from Budh Vihar side and went close to the pit. An inquest has been initiated and the police are likely to register a case of negligence against the concerned contractor, the official added.