Minor girl dies after falling into ventilation duct in Thane building

Thane | A 10-year-old girl died after falling into the ventilation duct of a 10-storey residential building in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said on Tuesday.

The incident, which occurred at the Shraddha Prati building at Samrat Nagar in Mumbra area, was reported at 11.48 pm on Monday to the Thane Municipal Corporation's disaster management cell, its chief Yasin Tadvi said.

The girl, who was not a resident of the building, fell into the vertical duct running through the structure under unclear circumstances, he said, adding that how the minor entered the premises was being investigated.

A loud thud alerted a resident of the building. Some persons then spotted the child lying motionless at the base of the ventilation shaft, he said.

Emergency services, including personnel from the Mumbra police station, fire brigade teams, regional disaster management cell and a private ambulance reached the spot.

Despite a challenging rescue operation due to the narrow structure of the shaft, fire brigade officials retrieved the child. She was then taken to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa where doctors declared her brought dead, the official said.

The body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

The Mumbra police have registered a case of accidental death and launched a probe into the incident.

Investigators were probing how the child accessed the dangerous shaft and whether there was any negligence or lapses in building safety.

"This is a deeply unfortunate incident. The safety of such open ventilation ducts in high-rise residential buildings must be seriously reconsidered, especially where children are present," said a civic official involved in the rescue effort.

The victim was a resident of Mumbradevi Apartment, located nearby at Thakurpada in Mumbra, as per officials.

Authorities have urged parents and guardians to remain vigilant and keep children away from unsecured and dangerous zones within buildings.