Teen falls in well; father, worker drown saving him

Three people including a father-son duo lost their lives on Thursday evening, after falling into a well located inside a building in Mahim.

Three people including a father-son duo lost their lives on Thursday evening, after falling into a well located inside a building in Mahim.

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The father and son had come to the city on Wednesday along with at least 10 other families from Amreli district of Gujarat to attend a wedding in Mohammed Salim’s family, who is the landlord of Friendship Terrace, the building near Mahim dargah.

“Further investigation in on to find if there was any negligence on part of anyone,” said police sub-inspector Srikant Nimbalkar of the Mahim police station.

According to the witnesses, Riyaz Agwan (16), the grandson of Mohammed Salim (60), went towards the 25-feet, narrow-mouth well to draw some water. As he was trying to drag the water pipe out of it, he lost his balance and fell in.

Riyaz’s father Salim (40) rushed towards the well and jumped in to rescue him but failed, witnesses added.

“He too got stuck inside,” said Harun Sheikh, a relative.

The falling of the two inside the well created commotion in the area.

Nizam Sheikh, a worker who was digging a well in a neighbouring building learnt about the incident and ran to help the two. “He too drowned,” said Sayed Sadiq, a local.

They were taken to Hinduja hospital, where the authorities declared them dead before admission.

Police sources suspect that the three could have died

due to the presence of toxic gases accumulated inside the well.

The sources said that the well had been closed down by civic authorities, after they had found its water unfit for consumption.

However, the landlord had allegedly created a narrow opening to exploit it for commercial use.