Trapped on his car roof, Noida techie drowns after SUV plunges into 70-foot-deep pit

The authorities, according to the friend and father, failed to rescue Mehta in time. Mehta’s body and his car were pulled out of the pit after five hours.

• Software engineer drowned after SUV plunged into water-filled pit in Noida
• Rescue delayed due to fog, lack of equipment, and inability of police to swim
• Authorities have launched a probe into the incident

Did our AI summary help?

A 27-year-old software engineer drowned after his SUV broke through a damaged boundary wall and plunged into a water-filled pit dug for a commercial project in Sector 150 around midnight on Friday, January 17, according to the Times of India.

The victim, identified as Yuvraj Mehta, could not swim but made desperate attempts to survive. After getting out of his Grand Vitara, he climbed onto the roof of the vehicle and repeatedly called his father while switching on his phone’s flashlight, hoping rescuers would spot him.

Mehta, who worked with customer data science firm Dunnhumby India in Gurgaon, was returning home from work when the accident occurred. Police said poor visibility due to dense fog and the absence of streetlights in the area caused him to miss a sharp turn near ATS Le Gradiose, sending his vehicle into the flooded excavation.

Yuvraj lived in the same sector, and his father, Raj Mehta, along with police personnel, reached the site within minutes after receiving his calls. However, thick fog prevented them from locating him, though his voice could be heard from the pit.

A passerby, identified as Moninder, jumped into the cold water in an attempt to rescue Yuvraj but was unable to find him. “Yuvraj kept pleading for help,” he told The Times of India.

Yuvraj’s friend, Pankaj Tokas, alleged that the police personnel who initially reached the spot did not enter the water as they could not swim. “He was screaming at the top of his voice for help while standing on the car roof. Cranes were called, but no one entered the water to save him,” Tokas was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The police team contacted the fire department and disaster response units as Yuvraj’s father waited at the site. Sources told the Times of India that the State Disaster Response Force reached first but lacked the equipment needed for the rescue. A National Disaster Response Force team was then called from Ghaziabad, which took about an hour to arrive.

By around 1:45 am, Yuvraj’s cries for help had fallen silent. His body was eventually recovered from the pit at about 4:30 am, several hours after the vehicle had plunged in, according to the report.

The body has been sent for post-mortem examination, and authorities have initiated a probe into the circumstances surrounding the incident, the report said.