Drunk man falls in open manhole, dies

Precisely a week after four children drowned in an open drain in north Delhi, a 42-year-old man, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, died after falling into an open manhole near his northeast Delhi residence on Thursday, police said.

Precisely a week after four children drowned in an open drain in north Delhi, a 42-year-old man, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, died after falling into an open manhole near his northeast Delhi residence on Thursday, police said.

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According to police, the incident occurred around 8:30 pm when the man — identified as Devender Singh who worked as a labourer at a local scrap shop—was returning to his house in gali no. 4 in Ram Nagar area of Shahdara.

“He left work at around 8:15 pm and was walking home when he fell into the 12-foot-deep manhole connected to the drain flowing below,” said a senior police officer.

Police said the manhole was left open by the MCD — which is performing maintenance work in the area.

“Due to improper lighting, his neighbours were guided only by his voice as he screamed for help,” the officer said.

According to police, two of his neighbours dived into the flowing drain and managed to push Devender’s body out of the drain after about half-an-hour.

“He was rushed to the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital where doctors pronounced him dead,” the officer said.

A case of death due to negligence has been registered.