Relatives of two children who drowned in Bhestan, in Surat, Gujarat, say it should never have happened. The open pit was not covered, they say, and no barricade surrounded it. The children were a three-year-old boy and his two-year-old sister.
They fell into an elevator shaft dug for a commercial building under construction. The pit was about six feet deep and had filled with water. Both children slipped in and drowned on Friday evening.
Police say the early findings show the children were playing near their parents, who work at the site as day laborers. The family is from Rajasthan. The mother was preparing dinner. The father had gone out to buy vegetables. The children wandered toward the shaft.
When the parents realized what happened, they pulled the children out of the water. The children had already died.
Relatives allege gross negligence at the site. They say a proper cover or a fence around the pit could have stopped the tragedy.
The family lived at the construction site. The couple has three children. The oldest daughter stayed behind in their hometown, and the two younger ones were with their parents.
The grieving family at first refused to accept the bodies. The names of the children have not been released.
Leave a Reply