Ghaziabad: 47-year-old man slips into 15-ft drain, rescued

Ghaziabad: A 47-year-old man nearly drowned after slipping into a 15-foot drain in Ghaziabad’s Shastri Nagar on Friday before police and fire department personnel rescued him, officials said

Ghaziabad: A 47-year-old man nearly drowned after slipping into a 15-foot drain in Ghaziabad’s Shastri Nagar on Friday before police and fire department personnel rescued him, officials said.

Fire department personnel rescue a 47-year-old man after he reportedly slipped into a drain in the Shastri Nagar locality on Friday. (Sakib Ali/HT PHOTO)

According to police, the incident happened around 9.15am, when the drain’s flow was low.

Chief fire officer Rahul Pal told HT, “Police informed the fire department around 10am and a team rushed to the spot. They used a ladder to enter the drain and pull out the man using ropes. The drain is about 15 feet deep and 20 feet wide. The man was struggling to stay above the water’s surface. He was pulled out within 25 minutes and rushed to a hospital.”

Police constable Ashish Yadav, who reached the site after receiving information from locals, said police received information around 9:30am.

“He was in the drain when we reached the spot. We fetched a rope from the locals, threw one end towards the man, but he could not hold it. Then we called the fire department, and pulled him out together. The man was under the influence of some intoxicating substance and was rushed to a hospital,” Yadav told HT.

Officials said the man was identified and his family was informed.

“The man’s family arrived at the hospital. The man was under the influence of some intoxicating substance. He is currently stable at the hospital. He survived because the drain’s flow was low; otherwise, he was at great risk of drowning,” ACP (Kavi Nagar) Siddharth Gautam told HT.

Yogesh Kumar, a family friend of the man’s father, told HT at Sanjay Nagar hospital, “His family had disowned him about 12 years ago. He was even jailed in a case for allegedly sexually harassing a minor about 15 years ago. Today, I came with his father to the hospital after police traced his address.”