Man drowns in deep pit after emergency responders ‘refused to enter cold water’ to save him

A 27-year-old man drowned in a deep construction pit near Delhi, with an eye-witness alleging that emergency responders refused to enter the water as it was “too cold”, despite the victim crying for help for hours.

The victim, identified as software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, died late on Friday night after his car plunged into a flooded excavation site in Noida, a satellite city east of India’s capital.

According to police and eyewitness accounts, Yuvraj was driving home through Sector 150 of Noida in Uttar Pradesh state shortly after midnight amid dense winter fog when his vehicle struck a low boundary wall and fell into a waterlogged pit around 70ft deep. The site had been excavated a few years ago for a stalled construction project.

Indian media reported that Yuvraj managed to escape his vehicle and stand on its roof as it slowly submerged. As he struggled to stay afloat, he called his father, Raj Kumar Mehta, on his cellphone, pleading for help.

“My son called me and said, ‘Papa, the car has fallen into a drain. I am stuck,’” Mr Mehta told Indian media. “By the time I reached the spot, he was still alive, but no one was able to reach him.”

A passer-by, identified by his first name Moninder, tried to rescue Yuvraj by tying a rope around his own waist and entering the pit after 1am, but said he was unable to locate either the victim or the car in the darkness.

Emergency responders, including the police, arrived at the scene but Moninder alleged they did not enter the water.

“They were saying, ‘The water is too cold. There are iron rods inside. We will not go,’” the Hindustan Times quoted him as saying. He said Yuvraj could be heard crying for help for nearly two hours before falling silent.

Police officials confirmed that multiple agencies were alerted shortly after midnight, including the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), though specialist divers arrived several hours later.

The man is believed to have drowned around 2.30am. His body was recovered after daybreak, nearly five hours after the crash. Hemant Upadhyay, assistant commissioner of police for Greater Noida, said officers were concerned about further casualties if untrained personnel entered the pit.

“The water was very deep, visibility was poor and there were concerns about submerged debris,” he said. “We were afraid that more lives could be lost,” he said.

The Independent has reached out to Noida Police for comment.

The incident has triggered anger among local residents, some of whom staged protests at the site, accusing authorities of negligence and delayed action. Yuvraj’s family alleged that repeated warnings about the unprotected pit and lack of reflective signage along the road had been ignored by authorities.

“The drains were left uncovered and there were no reflectors despite heavy fog,” Mr Mehta said. “This could have been prevented.”

Police have since registered a criminal case against two local real estate developers, following a complaint from the family. Officials said any negligence found would be investigated.

Shortly after the incident, the pit was filled with debris and rubbish, drawing further criticism from residents who accused authorities of attempting to erase evidence. The death has also prompted political fallout. Senior officials from the township’s governing authority have been removed, and the Uttar Pradesh government ordered a special investigation into the circumstances surrounding the rescue operation and site safety.