SHIRDI BOY STUCK IN BOREWELL DIES

NASHIK: An eight-year-old boy survived a seven-hour ordeal in a borewell at Murshatpur village near Shirdi but died within two hours of being rescued while being treated in a hospital on Monday. Witnesses said that Saieshwar Pramod Barhate fell into the borewell since it was covered with grass.

A boy was stuck in a borewell in Murshatpur village near Shirdi who was extricated after hectic seven hours efforts succumbed to suffocation and died in the hospital on Monday.

Witnesses said that Saieshwar Pramod Barhate (8) could not see the open bore-well covered with grass while playing on the farm, which was being managed by his father Pramod. Saieshwar fell in the 6.6-inch casing pipe and was sucked in by the gravity to 15 feet below, where the pipe tapered to four inch only. His screams were heard by his sisters and other children who informed their parents.

The villagers began digging around the bore well while the police, fire brigade and other government staff arrived in their effort to rescue Saieshwar.

The village Panchayat Samiti former chairman Sunil Deokar, said that JCB excavators were also deployed to excavate the soil.

“The JCB excavators began drilling around one side of the pipe. The excavation continued till 15 feet. However, it struck a rock and they could not proceed further as it would have endangered the child,” Deokar said.

Oxygen was pumped into the well while the rescue operation was on, to help the boy breathe. A National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) team with hi-tech equipment was rushed to the site. However when the team arrived, Saieshwar was already extricated.

The Tehsildar Kishore Kadam, who supervised the full operation, told Free Press Journal, “All the dedicated personnel from fire brigade, police, revenue and locals were involved in the rescue operation. The casing pipe was 15 feet and the 6.6 inches pipe tapers to four inches towards the end. At 15 feet a tunnel was bored and the rescuer saw Saieshwar’s hand. The rescuer then pulled him out, he was unconscious.”

Kadam added, Saieshwar was brought to the surface and rushed to hospital. “Sadly, he did not regain consciousness in the hospital and hence was rushed to a super speciality hospital,” Kadam said.

The Senior police Inspector of Kopargaon police station Suresh Shinde said that Saieshwar failed to regain consciousness and was declared dead by the doctors.

“Investigations are going on.” Murshatpur village is in Kopargaon tehsil of Ahmednagar, 21 km from Shirdi which is in Rahata tehsil.