Updated 15 June 2025 at 15:53 IST
Uttara Kannada: A heart-wrenching CCTV footage from Karnataka uncovered the horror of an open drain when a 2-year-old child accidentally fell in and died despite being rushed to the hospital. The incident was recorded on a CCTV camera.
The incident occurred in Azad Nagar, Bhatkal town, Uttara Kannada district. The 2-year-old girl, daughter of Tauseef and Arju, was innocently playing near an open drain in front of her house on June 14, 2025, when she accidentally fell in the drain.
The drain was huge in comparison to the child and was filled with flowing dirty water. The incident as recorded in the CCTV footage shows that the child had just arrived near the drain and was walking toward the narrow wooden bridge in front of the house when she fell into the drain despite attempting to hold onto the railings of the bridge.
The child was immediately rushed to a hospital but could not be saved. The case occurred on the afternoon of June 14, in the jurisdiction of the Bhatkal Town Police Station.
In India, at least one person dies every 12 hours due to falling into open pits and manholes according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This translates to roughly 1,752 deaths annually from these causes. These incidents are often classified as "accidental deaths", but some experts consider them to be preventable deaths due to negligence.
While ascertaining the exact number of deaths caused by open drains due to underreporting, another such incident occurred last year when a 5-year-old fell and drowned in an open drain while playing with her siblings in Alipur, Delhi.
In yet another incident a mother-son duo died after falling into a waterlogged drain in response to which, the Delhi High Court castigated the Municipal Corporation of Delhi saying the civic administration has become a "cozy club" with its senior officers lacking the courage to take action against non-performing employees.
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Published 15 June 2025 at 15:53 IST