3-year-old dies at Garware Club House after falling from gap in staircase

The child, Hridyansh Rathod, had gone to the club with his parents and other relatives to enjoy the football World Cup final on a big screen. Family members of the child claimed that the incident occurred as a safety glass on the staircase was missing

Mumbai. A three-year-old boy died when he fell from the sixth-floor staircase of Garware Club House in Churchgate on Sunday night. The child, Hridyansh Rathod, had gone to the club with his parents and other relatives to enjoy the football World Cup final on a big screen. Family members of the child claimed that the incident occurred as a safety glass on the staircase was missing. The Marine Drive police station is probing the matter.

3-year-old dies at Garware Club House after falling from gap in staircase

Hridyansh has been identified as the son of Parel resident Avnish Rathod. The incident took place at around 10.40pm on Sunday night. The club, located next to Wankhede stadium, had arranged a big screen for its members to enjoy the World Cup final on the sixth-floor terrace.

The boy’s uncle Dhanpat Jain, who was also at the club, said, “Hridyansh along with my son Vivan (10 years) had gone to the toilet on the fifth floor and were returning to the terrace. He fell from the portion of the staircase between the two floors where there was no side glass.”

His son ran back to the terrace and told Hridyansh’s family that he had fallen down from the staircase, he said. “Initially, his parents thought that Hridyansh had just slipped and fallen. But, when they went to check on him, he was not to be found anywhere. When they reached the ground floor looking for him, they were informed by the club staff that the child had fallen on the ground floor and the club’s watchmen had rushed him to Bombay Hospital,” Jain said.

The child had sustained multiple injuries and succumbed during treatment, police said.

Police reached the hospital and recorded the statement of the father of the boy. After the post mortem, the body was handed over to the parents for cremation, said an officer from Marine Drive police station. The parents of the child are in shock and not in a condition to speak to anyone.

Jain said that no one from the club’s management visited the grieving family. “We are not making any demands for compensation, but we want the club to look into why the side glass of the staircase was missing,” said Jain.

“We have registered an accidental death report under Section 174 of CrPC. We have recorded statements of some guards and others at the club. We will also be scanning CCTV footage,” said inspector Santosh Avhad, in-charge of the Marine Drive police station.

Calls and messages to Raj Purohit, vice president, Garware Club House yielded no response.