The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Boy falls in well as grille lid gives in

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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Boy falls in well as grille lid gives in

Special Correspondent

Rescue team retrieves the body using iron hooks

— Photo: A.Muralitharan.

MISHAP SPOT: Policemen inspect the well in Rajakilpakkam, into which the boy had a fatal fall on Monday.

TAMBARAM: A five-year old boy drowned in a well when the lid of an iron grille on which he was seated gave way in Rajakilpakkam near Tambaram on Monday. His great grandmother was a witness to the tragedy.

Dinesh Kumar, the victim, was the son of Ramesh (35), employed in a private firm, and Nirmala (28), a housewife. The family was living on Netaji First Street in Kamarajapuram near Tambaram.

Ramesh left for work and his wife went to a government hospital in Chennai for a medical check-up. The couple’s elder daughter Nithya had gone to Shantinekatan Matriculation School in Sembakkam, where Dinesh was a student of LKG.

From the school Dinesh’s great-grandmother Kannammal took him to a house on Vivekananda Street, Rajakilpakkam, where she worked as a domestic help. It was Dinesh’s first visit and he was given snacks, which he enjoyed thoroughly, those in the house said.

A little later, Kannammal went down to wash utensils, taking Dinesh along with her. She took her attention off her great-grandson for a moment, during which he managed to climb onto the well. He had barely settled on the grille’s lid, when it gave way. The accident took place at around 10 a.m. Kannammal cried for help and hearing her cries, neighbours rushed to the spot.

A councillor from the area alerted personnel at the Selaiyur police station and also the Fire Control.

A constable from the police station jumped into the well, diving and re-surfacing five times, but was unable to rescue the boy. A private tanker that was cleaning a sewage tank at a house on the same street was brought to the spot and residents and police made an attempt to pump out water from the well.

The plan was to empty the sewage into a drain and pump out water from the well and into the tanker. However, it proved to be counter-productive as sewage entered the well from the tanker due to reverse flow.

An Emergency Rescue Team of the Fire and Rescue Services Department from Tambaram rushed to the spot and using iron hooks, managed to retrieve the boy’s body.

The body was taken to the boy’s house and later, to the Chromepet General Hospital for postmortem.

The Selaiyur police have registered a case under Section 174 of Code of Criminal Procedure. The well, about four feet in diameter, was protected by cement wall .

After preliminary investigations, police said it was not possible for the boy to have jumped onto the grille. They suspect the boy had stepped on a grinding stone and caught hold of water pipes for support before stepping on the grille.

The grille’s lid was rusted and its screws were not tightened and hence it gave way, police added.

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