Mumbai man charred to death as bike falls into open manhole, explodes

Mohan Rathod, a resident of Ulwe, was drunk at the time of the incident, the police said

A 27-year-old man died after his two-wheeler fell into an open manhole and exploded in Ulwe early on Tuesday.

The spot where the accident took place. (HT)

Mohan Rathod, a resident of Ulwe, was drunk at the time of the incident, the police said. While crossing sector 20 around 12.30am, he lost control of the vehicle, which then jumped on to the sewage pipeline along the road. “The manholes along the stretch are uncovered as the construction work of a pipeline and road is going on. Rathod and his two-wheeler fell into a manhole,” said Smita Jadhav, senior inspector of NRI police station. “After the accident, the two-wheeler caught fire and exploded inside the pipeline. Rathod suffered severe burns and died on the spot,” she said.

A passer-by informed the police. “We have realised that he was drunk. That could be the reason why he lost control and fell into the open manhole,” said Jadhav.

“Our officials pulled out the man and his vehicle. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was later handed over to his family after post-mortem at a civic hospital,” another officer said.

THE HOLE TRUTH

Oct 2017: A 3-year-old boy, Samir Ali, died after he allegedly fell into an open manhole near his house in Nalasopara on Thursday evening. The toddler had gone to buy chocolates from a nearby shop.

August: Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, 59, died after he fell into an open manhole when Mumbai was water-logged after the heavy rain on August 29. His body was found at the Worli sea-face two days later. It is suspected that he fell into a 8x6 feet barrel drain at the water-logged Elphistone junction

Feb: Three labourers died in a manhole in Malad (West) after they stepped in to clean it on Thursday morning. They fell unconscious soon after they went in and were declared dead when taken to the hospital.

2010: Tushar Jadhav, 11, fell into an uncovered manhole at Mariam Nagar in Worli.