A 25-year-old worker died after being buried in a 40-feet deep pit at a construction site near Safdarjung Railway station Thursday. Police said he was working at the site where redevelopment of the railway station is taking place.
The deceased, identified as Shamsher Rehman, was doing welding work when a huge mass of loose soil slipped and he fell into the pit which was around 40 feet deep.
The incident took place around 6 am when other workers were also working at the site. Senior officials said it took them more than 4 hours to rescue the man but by then he had died.
Manoj C, DCP (Southwest) said, “We received a PCR call early morning at Sarojini Nagar and rushed to the spot. One of the workers fell into a pit under the construction basement and was trapped. We were told that the pit was 40 feet deep. It was found that Shamsher was welding a water pump when he slipped and fell into the pit. It was around 5.15 am but he was found later”.
Police staff called Delhi Fire Services and NDRF teams to rescue the man. Cranes and fire tenders were called and firefighters and other rescue workers rushed to the spot but found it difficult to walk around the site.
“ Due to the recent rains, there was a lot of mud. It was slipping and there was fear that others could also fall under the construction site. We had to be very careful. We used cranes and ropes and managed to fish out his body around 10 am,” said a fire official.
Shamsher hailed from Bihar and was living alone in Delhi. His body has been preserved at Safdarjung hospital mortuary.
“ Prima facie… there’s negligence on part of the contractor and the construction company. We have registered a case against unknown persons under sections of negligence w.r.t. repairing buildings and causing death by negligence. The matter is being investigated and arrests will be made soon,” said an officer.