40 people fall in well while watching rescue of 8-yr-old girl in MP’s Vidisha

Vidisha accident: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a probe into the accident. A district police officer said about 10 people are feared to be trapped under the rubble in the well.

Published on: Jul 16, 2021, 01:19:12 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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BHOPAL: Nearly 40 people in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha, who had gathered around a well to watch others try to pull out an eight-year-old girl, fell into the 40-feet-deep well after its boundary wall caved in due to the pressure, police said late on Thursday.

There is no word on the condition of the young girl who first fell into the well while playing in Vidisha’s Lalpathar village (Screengrab)

About 23 people have been rescued, MP’s medical education minister Vishvas Kailash Sarang, said shortly before midnight. Of them, Sarang said, 13 people have been admitted to hospital.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who asked Sarang, the guardian minister of Vidisha district 50 km from state capital Bhopal, to oversee the rescue and relief operation, said he has ordered a high-level probe into the accident.

According to the villagers, a girl fell into a well late on Thursday evening while playing. A huge crowd gathered around the well as word spread across the village. They were trying to rescue her when the boundary wall of the well caved in and they fell into the well, Bhopal division additional director general of police, Sai Manohar said.

There is no word on the condition of the young girl who first fell into the well while playing. Or the remaining 17 people.

“She is still in the well,” a police officer said, pointing that it was not clear if she was hurt due to the debris when the boundary wall collapsed and the people who fell into the well moments later.

Several people are feared trapped under the rubble, the officer added. Sanjay Sahu, additional superintendent of police, Vidisha, said he believed about 10 people were trapped.

Preliminary reports suggest the rescue operation, which was later led by personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and the state-level disaster response force, was suspended for some time after a tractor being used by them also fell into the well.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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