Boy watching earth mover at work dies after dug-up soil is accidentally dumped on him

A 14-year-old boy died after being buried under a heap of mud dumped by an earthmover working at a drain construction site near his home in outer Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy on Wednesday afternoon, the police said.

Like several other curious onlookers, the boy too was watching the earthmover in action when the mishap took place, the police said.

Rajeev Ranjan, deputy commissioner of police (outer north), said the earthmover driver fled the spot immediately after the mishap. “We have identified the driver and are making all efforts to arrest him,” said Ranjan.

On Thursday, the family of the dead boy placed his body on the road outside Ambedkar Hospital and staged a protest.

The boy, Vikram Das, lived with his parents and siblings in Shahbad Dairy. His father has been ill and out of work for the past many months.

According to the police, the crane was hired by a private contractor to whom the drain construction work near the boy’s house was outsourced by a civic agency.

It is learnt that the crane, during its operation, hit the boy, causing him to fall into the drain. According to the police, the crane then went on to dump the dug-up mud on him, completely burying him.

Vikram’s father, Madhusudan Das, told a news outlet that the crane operator fled the scene immediately after the accident. “It took us 15 minutes to dig my son out. Had the crane operator been around to help, my son could have been quickly rescued and he would be alive right now,” he said.

After being pulled out of the mud, Vikram was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The police have registered a case of causing death due to negligence at the Shahbad Dairy police station.