Seven-yr-old dies after falling into construction pit

A seven-year-old boy died after falling into a water-filled pit that was dug up for construction of a concrete pillar of an under-construction building at Collin Lane off Free School Street on Tuesday morning. Police said the victim Abdul Rahaman Khan was a local resident and he accidentally fell into the open pit while playing. Police later came to know that the boy came out of his house to play when his parents were busy in household work. No one had noticed that he had fallen into the open pit. Later, his parents found their son missing and started searching for him. After failing to find him anywhere, they contacted  the police.  Some children in the area later found Abdul’s ball near the under construction area and informed his parents. 

Their suspicion led them to search the water filled pit. The boy was found in an unconscious state from inside the pit before the police reached the spot. The boy taken to hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Suraj Singh, a local resident, said that the pit was dug up to bring up a high-rise on the 10 cottah plot. But no safety measures were in place to avoid any accident. The area was congested and any person could have fallen into it while passing through the place.

The incident led to tension in the area as local people demanded immediate legal action against the construction company. They staged a demonstration in the area.  The police initiated a case in this connection but no one has been arrested yet.

A police officer said that as per norms, the construction company was supposed to cordon off the area where the pits are located. However, no such measure was taken up there. Meanwhile, a 35-year-old woman Nilam Sonkar and her 6-year-old daughter Tamanna Sonkar were injured when a portion of the ceiling of their house got damaged.

The incident took place at Fakirbagan Lane in Howrah early Tuesday morning. Local people rescued and took both of them to hospital.