CHENNAI: A college student riding a motorcycle accidentally fell into a pit dug for construction of stormwater drain at East Tambaram and drowned in the water on Sunday.
The incident was brought to light only on Thursday by the local activists who were concerned over lack of safety measures around the spot.
Police said R Brite Durai (20), a native of Kanniyakumari and V Jothi (21), a native of Vellore, were studying in the Bharat Institute of Higher Education and Research at Selaiyur.
They were studying third-year B.Sc. Visual Communication.
“Around 11.30 on Sunday night, the duo were returning to the hostel when the accident happened,” said a police officer.
Jothi was riding the bike with Brite on the pillion.
“The state Highways department had dug a huge pit as a preparation for the storm. Sand was raised on both sides of the pits and the boys, who must have driven their vehicle at speed, ran over the sand heap and fell into the pit,” said a police officer.
When they were on the Agaram main road near Rajendran Timber Traders, the bike hit the sand pit and Brite who was riding pillion flew and fell inside the pit. Meanwhile, Jothi fell over the sand heap with his bike crushed completely.
“Passers-by who noticed the accident alerted the police and Jothi who was unconscious was taken to a nearby private hospital. Nobody knew about Brite since the pit was filled with water and he was not noticed,” said a traffic investigation police officer.