Two-and-a-half-year-old boy dies after falling into manhole while playing in rain

A two-and-a-half-year-old boy drowned after accidentally falling into an open sewer in Delhi’s Khera Khurd village on Furni Road, according to the Delhi Fire Department.

Delhi police said that the child fell into the manhole while playing in the heavy rain around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. His parents alerted the Fire Department at 11:10 a.m., after which a joint rescue operation was launched by fire officials, Police, and other civic agencies.

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“A coordinated effort by multiple agencies, along with the active help of local residents, led to the recovery of the child from the sewer,” said a Delhi Police spokesperson.

The boy’s body was sent to the hospital after the recovery.

Criticising the government, former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj took to X over the deaths in the national capital on the sacred day of Raksha Bandhan, blaming them on government negligence.

“The BJP government has become a curse for Delhiites. A 2.5-year-old child has also died after drowning in a manhole. Think about the destruction this incompetent government has brought. I told CM Rekha Gupta on Saturday morning that opening manholes during rain is a dangerous shortcut,” Bhardwaj wrote.