NEW DELHI: When the rescue agencies retrieved the body of the woman and her toddler son, she was still holding her child with one hand, officials privy to the matter said on Thursday. “When a diver went in and found the mother, she still clutched her baby with one hand,” the officer told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased mother and son alleged that the rescue operation was delayed as there were no divers available with the rescue agencies. They accused the authorities of grave negligence, saying when the dead bodies were retieved from the watery grave, the family themselves took the deceased to the hospital in a taxi as there were no available ambulances.
“It was dark, the streets were completely waterlogged. No one could have seen the open drain. After we made the first PCR call, the police arrived with a rescue agency; but neither did they have proper lighting equiment nor the required tools,” the uncle of the deceased woman said.
He said rescue operation was delayed because of the delayed rescue, and their daughter died holding her 3-year-old son. He alleged that the bodies were recovered after nearly two hours. “Locals offered to help and assisted the rescue agencies. One of the boys tied a rope around his waist, went into the open drain and spotted the bodies. He then recovered both the bodies one by one,” the relative said, his voice broken by sobs, “They tried administering CPR on mother-son but it was in vain.”
The deceased’s husband blamed the authorities for the deaths; “If the rescue operation wasn’t delayed, they could have been saved,” he said.
‘Taken to hospital by taxi’
As per kin, despite repeated attempts, no ambulances were made available and the deceased had to be taken to the hospital in a private taxi by the family. They accused authorities of grave negligence, saying the police and rescue units who arrived to the scene following the SOS call,
had neither proper lighting equiment nor the required tools for the operation.
