Two labourers drown in nullah

Two daily wage labourers drowned inside an eight-foot-deep nullah after falling through a Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) duct on a service road next to

Two daily wage labourers drowned inside an eight-foot-deep nullah after falling through a Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) duct on a service road next to the western express highway in Goregaon (East) on Tuesday afternoon. An accidental death report has been registered with the Vanrai police.

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The incident took place near Vanrai Colony opposite The Hub Mall. The duct was made by MTNL for their telephone lines.

A police officer said, “The labourers usually open the duct’s door, which has hooks inside. They attach their instruments on the hooks using rope as it’s convenient for them to find it during work. It’s like a storeroom for them.”

One of the deceased, Arunkumar Patel, 43, opened the duct to keep an iron rod. He was accompanied by his friend Manoj Goswami, 41.

Patel slipped and fell into the duct and Goswami went running to inform another worker, Dharmendra Rajbhar, 47, who was nearby. Both rushed back and Goswami went in to rescue Patel but while going down, he too slipped and drowned.

Police rushed to the spot and managed to pull them out with a rope, but both were unconscious. They were taken to a hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.