Two kids drown at construction site

A Class VIII student of Somerville School and a Class III student of Mahadev Public School drowned to death at an under-construction basement at City Centre in Sector 32 on Sunday. Heavy rainfall had filled up the dug-up site with water up to 4 metre deep.

A Class VIII student of Somerville School and a Class III student of Mahadev Public School drowned to death at an under-construction basement at City Centre in Sector 32 on Sunday. Heavy rainfall had filled up the dug-up site with water up to 4 metre deep.

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“A labourer passing by the site spotted the two bodies floating in the water at the site. He informed police. The deceased boys were identified as Varun (12) and Shekar (9),” said V.C. Tripathi, Deputy Superintendent of Police.

Raj Kumar, Shekhar’s father, a resident of Nithari, Sector 31, and who works at the Metro Hospital washing unit, said, “My son is dead. My two daughters have gone into shock on hearing news of his death. He was studying in class III at Mahadev Public School at Nithari. Last evening, he had gone with Varun to play. When he did not return home and we couldn’t trace him the whole night, we went to the Sector 24 Police Station and lodged a missing person report. An hour later, we got a call from the police station that two bodies had been recovered. They called us for identification.”

Prem Masi, Varun’s father, who runs tyre-repair shop and is also a resident of Sector 31, said, “I have lost my child. I had admitted him to Somerville School and was trying to make him a senior officer. All my hopes have been dashed. My elder son and a younger daughter are still not able to believe that their brother is no more. They continued poking his body asking him to wake up.”

“Till evening no one has complained against the company at whose site the boys drowned. The company should have posted a guard at the site and fencing should have been erected around the site so that nobody fell into it accidentally. We’ll file an FIR once we get a complaint against the company management,” said Tripathi.

Company management said they had not yet started work at the site. Soil was being removed to build a basement when the rains stopped work at the site.