Tragic Accident Claims Life of Noida Software Engineer
A young software engineer from Noida met a tragic end early Sunday morning. His car plunged into a water-filled basement at an under-construction building site in Sector 150. The incident occurred during foggy conditions, leading to a heartbreaking loss for his family.
Desperate Call for Help
Yuvraj Mehta, aged 27, found himself trapped inside his submerged vehicle. He immediately called his father for assistance. "My son himself called me while he was trapped," said Raj Kumar Mehta, the victim's father. "He said, 'papa, I am stuck, the car has fallen into the drain.'" The young techie worked in Gurugram and lived with his father in a high-rise building in the same sector.
Rescue Efforts Fall Short
Rescue teams reached the location promptly after receiving the distress call. However, they faced significant challenges. The police did not have a swimmer with them, which hampered their ability to act quickly. According to the father, this lack of specialized personnel cost his son's life. "If there had been a swimmer, someone could have reached him, as the water was very deep," he lamented.
Eyewitnesses reported that Yuvraj remained trapped for nearly two hours. "For around one hour and forty-five minutes, he kept pleading for help, saying, 'please save me, save me in any way possible,'" one witness recalled. The rescue operation involved multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force, state disaster response force, and fire department teams.
Delayed Response and Investigation
Friends of the victim pointed out delays in the rescue operation. One friend stated that rescue teams arrived only by 2:30 AM and could not enter the water until 3:20 AM. Chief fire officer Pradeep Kumar Chaubey confirmed that the operation took considerable time, lasting until around 5 AM.
Preliminary investigations by the police identified low visibility and speeding as primary factors. Assistant commissioner of police Hemant Upadhyay explained, "They had dug a large drain, around six to seven feet wide. Due to poor visibility and high speed, the driver appears to have lost control." Yuvraj was driving a Grand Vitara when he lost control while taking a turn, crashing through the boundary wall of the drain.
Allegations of Negligence
Yuvraj's father has filed a police complaint against the authorities. He alleges that residents of Sector 150 had repeatedly requested the Noida authority to install barricading and reflectors near the drain. No action was taken, according to his complaint. This negligence, he believes, contributed directly to the accident.
The tragic incident highlights critical safety issues at construction sites. It underscores the need for proper barricades and warning signs, especially during adverse weather conditions. The community mourns the loss of a young professional whose life ended too soon.
