NEW DELHI: A delivery agent, who reached the accident site after a 27-year-old software engineer’s car fell into a water-filled deep pit in Greater Noida, on Sunday said he himself jumped into the pit in a desperate attempt to help the victim when he saw rescue workers struggling.
Moninder, the delivery agent, said he was at the accident site in Sector 150 at around 1.45 am Saturday and alleged that rescue personnel were initially reluctant to enter the water because of the cold, poor visibility and the presence of iron rods at the construction site. “I tied a rope around my waist and went into the water myself. I searched for the youth and his car for around 30 minutes,” Moninder told reporters, adding that he was later told that “if help had reached 10 minutes earlier, the techie could have been saved”.
He claimed that Mehta was initially seen standing on the roof of his car, using his mobile phone’s torch to signal passers-by and pleading for help. Moninder also said the same ditch had earlier witnessed another accident in which a truck driver was rescued by locals using ropes and a ladder.
Police, however, rejected allegations of negligence. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajeev Narayan Mishra said police and fire department teams made efforts to save the youth and deployed a crane, ladder, makeshift boat and searchlights, but visibility was near zero due to fog. pti