Odisha: 80-year-old Woman Dies After Falling into Borewell in Sonepur – News18

An 80-year-old woman died after falling into a 20-feet borewell near Kainphula village in Sonepur district in Odisha on Monday. Police said that the victim, identified as Dukhi Negi, had slipped and fallen into the abandoned borewell and she was deaf and mute.

Upon missing, locals searched for the woman the entire night and also informed the police.

Later, she was found in the borewell on Tuesday morning following which the fire services and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were called to carry out a rescue operation.

“We had supplied oxygen to the woman through the opening of the borewell. The district administration had provided us with an excavator, using which we dug the ground parallel to the borewell from a distance of around 10 feet,” State Fire DG Sudhansu Sadangi said.

After being brought out of the borewell in a critical condition, she was taken to Sonepur district hospital where doctors declared her dead. “She had died before being brought to the hospital,” Somi Purohit, a doctor at the Sonepur Hospital, said.

The Superintendent of Police in Sonepur, Amaresh Panda, said that the woman was found with a very low pulse rate after being rescued from a borewell. Officials also found a snake beside her, but it is not yet confirmed whether she was bitten by the reptile.

Gopabandhu Nayak, a member of the rescue team, said that the woman was found in a sitting position with her hands pressed against the wall of the borewell.

“We dug another hole close to the borewell to rescue her. During the search operation, we could see her but she was not responding to commands,” Assistant Fire Officer Dhananjay Mallik said.

Odisha Health Minister Niranjan Pujari, who represents the Sonepur constituency, said that a thorough investigation will be conducted into the incident.

(with PTI inputs)