3 girls drown in pit at Mumbai railway construction site

According to the police, the deceased were 8, 10 and 13 years old respectively.

Three minor girls drowned in a pit at a railway construction site near Panvel railway station on Monday afternoon.

The site has a water-filled pit, which was dug during the monsoons.

According to the police, the deceased were 8, 10 and 13 years old respectively. Prateeksha, Rohita and Reshm Bhonsle were cousins and had come to Panvel with their parents, who are street vendors, from Amravati, on Monday morning. “On reaching Panvel, some members of the group [of 20 street vendors] went to Majsid Bunder,” said Yogesh More, senior inspector of Khandeshwar police station. The rest, including the three girls, settled down at the construction site outside Panvel station. The site has a water-filled pit, which was dug during the monsoons. “These three girls were playing in the water. They started drowning soon after,” said More.

An alarm was raised immediately and some bystanders were able to fish two of the girls out. “We received a call around 1.45 pm and immediately rushed a rescue van and a team of 12 officials to the spot. Our officials found the third girl in the water after some time. All three were unconscious and they were rushed to a hospital. They were declared dead there,” said an officer from New Panvel fire station. A post-mortem is being conducted on the bodies and a case of accidental death has been registered.

The public relations officer for Central Railway, A.K. Jain said, “The work site is a cordoned area with steel sheets. Prima facie, it appears the kids had trespassed into that area.” However, a fire department official said the site was open on three sides. “There were barricades only on the railway platform side of the pit,” he said. The manager of Panvel station, SM Nair, said “There might be some gaps between the steel sheets.”

The Railways and the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) have undertaken a ₹154-crore project to turn Panvel railway station into a terminus.