Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)

Updated

Mangaluru, Dec 23: In a tragic incident, a 12-year-old girl died after accidentally falling into a well at Bejai here on Tuesday December 23.

Savitha, daughter of Parasappa and Shantabai from Lingapur in Badami, Bagalkot, fell into a deep well that is said to be filled with junk and some water, and covered with a net. The well is located near an unoccupied house close to Bejai museum. The family of the girl stays in the same neighbourhood in a rented house.

As per eyewitnesses, Savitha and her friends were playing with a ball on Tuesday morning. During their play, the ball fell on the net covering the well. Despite warning from her friends, Savitha is said to have climbed over the wall of the well and got on to the net to fetch the ball. However, the net gave way due to her weight and she fell in.

The fire personnel who were immediately informed rushed to the spot. However, the rescue effort was not easy due to the depth of the well and its contamination. When one of the personnel climbed down, he experienced difficulty in breathing and was forced to come back up.

The fire personnel then brought a pump to pour in water into the well so that the level would come up. After some efforts, Savitha was pulled out of the well, but she was already dead.

Savitha was a student of 6th standard in a school at Bejai.

Nagaraj Poojary, the fire personnel who climbed down the well and brought out the body, said that it was a 60 ft deep well, and there was only water for 10 ft and the rest was filled with junk and wood. "Due to this, the air at the bottom of the well had become poisonous, and it was difficult to breathe. I could go down only after we filled some more water, but even then it was very difficult," he said.