Five-year-old Nirob, who fell into an uncovered manhole in the capital's Shyampur area, has been found dead.
The doctors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital declared him dead around 9pm Tuesday, soon after he was rescued in an unconscious state from sewerage line.
DMCH Medical Officer Sohel Rana confirmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune.
Earlier, Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Ali Ahmed Khan told the Dhaka Tribune: “The boy has been found in an unconscious state from Shyampur Bazar sluice gate adjacent to the launch terminal and taken to the hospital.”
The fire fighters rescued the boy, Ismail Hossain Nirob, from the sewerage line around 8:30pm, a few hours after he fell into an uncovered manhole.
Fire Service and Civil Defence control room duty officer Bhajan Kumar Sarker told the Dhaka Tribune “The untoward incident took place around 4:20pm Tuesday. The fire fighters rushed to the spot immediately, being informed.”
Nirob's mother Nazma Begum said: “My son was playing beside the manhole with two other children. At one stage of playing, one of his friends pushed him into the ground but unfortunately he fell into the manhole.”
Nazma's neighbour Jahirul Islam said: “Hearing the cry of Nazma, we rushed in and called the fire fighters.”
Five members of the fire fighting unit were searching for the boy since Tuesday afternoon. However, the child could not be traced before the night because of the heavy flow of water inside the manhole.
Being informed, local lawmaker Abu Hossain Babla visited the spot around 7:30pm.
He said: “I was not informed about the uncovered manhole. But, I will investigate further and strong action will be taken against the people responsible for such accidents.”
Earlier on December 27, 2014, four-year-old Jihad was found dead inside the abandoned 600-ft deep water pump pipe at capital's Shahjahanpur Railway Colony, almost a full day (23 hours) after he fell into it.
Jihad's body was found and brought soon after the fire service chief declared that the rescue effort was suspended.
Open manholes posing serious hazards to the pedestrians and smaller vehicles are a common feature in many thoroughfares of the city.
This danger becomes greater during monsoon when heavy shower causes water logging in the streets of Dhaka and covers up the gaps of the open manholes, creating death traps.
As we can see from recent statements from both Wasa and DCC officials, they have no clear idea of the total number of manholes in the city. Even there are no specific department to look after the manholes.
Supervising civil engineers of DCCs in different zones and drainage circles of Wasa are responsible for looking after the manholes in their respective areas, said officials.
