- The 25-year-old fell into a pit filled with mud, which acted almost like quicksand
- He was discovered by farmers the next day and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital
- The incident took place near Kanpur
In Noida, it was a water-filled pit that killed a techie. Less than a month later, near Kanpur, a deep hole filled with mud, acting almost like quicksand, claimed a 25-year-old labourer's life.
And it was a painful death.
Stuck in the mud, screaming with no one to hear him, shivering the entire night until he was finally discovered 12 hours later, only to die while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Dhirendra Kumar, a resident of Bhawanipur in Kanpur Rural, worked as a welder at the Panki Power House in the city. Around 6 pm on Tuesday, he was returning home on the Rura-Shivali road. It was getting dark, there were no streetlights and Kumar lost control of his bike, veering off the road and into a pit just next to it.
The pit was deep enough, said local residents, that no passerby could have seen or heard him. "Few people use the road anyway after it gets dark. You can hardly see anything because there are no streetlights," said a villager.
Officials said Kumar fell in with the bike, and the mud in the pit acted like quicksand, trapping him and making it impossible to get out. He remained in the mud in temperatures of about 10 degrees Celsius from 6 pm until around 6 am on Wednesday, when some farmers spotted him.
They pulled him out, and a video shows Kumar, caked in mud, lying on the side of a field. As they wait for the ambulance to arrive, the farmers can be seen pouring water on him and cleaning his face. Kumar can be heard moaning in agony and flailing his arms, and the villagers light little fires around him to keep him warm.
Kumar was taken to the Shivli hospital nearby, where he died during treatment.
The labourer's brother, Brajendra, said he had called the family on Tuesday and said he was headed home. He said they were worried the entire night when they did not hear from him after that. It was only when the police called them on Wednesday morning that they found out what had happened.
In a statement, the police said a post-mortem examination of Kumar's body has been completed and the cause of death will be clear when the report comes in. "Further investigation is on," said an official.
Three Other Deaths
On January 17, software engineer Yuvraj Mehta died after his SUV fell into a pit dug for construction, which was full of water, in Noida's Sector 150.
The 27-year-old, who did not know how to swim, managed to stay alive for about 90 minutes. His father reached the spot first after getting a call from him and was then joined by teams from the police, fire brigade and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Because of thick fog, Mehta could not be located by any of the personnel, and he drowned.
In Delhi, 25-year-old Kamal Dhayani fell into a nearly 15-foot deep pit, dug by the Delhi Jal Board, while riding his motorcycle in Janakpuri on February 5. His body was discovered the next day.
Days later, on Monday, a 30-year-old labourer fell into a manhole on Delhi Development Authority land in Rohini Sector 32. His body was also found a day later.
(With inputs from Arun Agarwal)
