Kalyan: Five die after falling into well

Police said the incident took place around 2.30 pm. (Express photo by Deepak Joshi)

Two members of a family and a cleaner died in Kalyan on Thursday after falling into a well on the premises of a temple. Two fire brigade officials, who tried to rescue the men also lost their lives.

The deceased have been identified as Gunawant Goswami (45) and his son Rahul Goswami (25), cleaner Kamlesh Yadav (35) and fire brigade officials Anant Shelar (45) and Pramod Waghchaure (42).

Police said the incident took place around 2.30 pm. “The Goswamis had asked Kamlesh Yadav to clean the well. Yadav went down and started shouting… Rahul then climbed down the well. When they did not come up, his father Gunawant Goswami also climbed down the well,” said an officer from Kolshewadi police.

When the three stopped responding, the family members called the fire brigade suspecting that the three were electrocuted.

“I saw the three men thrashing around and it seemed like they had been electrocuted,” said neighbour Suresh Shaha.

“Two of the firemen tried to go down the well. The electricity supply had been cut off by then. However, one of them fell in and as the other reached the top of the ladder, he also fell into the well,” said Sudha Shaha, Gunawant’s cousin. Following this, the fire brigade officials suspected that it was a case of methane gas emission inside the well, sources said.

The bodies were brought out of the well with help of makeshift wooden hooks. They were sent for postmortem to Rukminibai hospital in Kalyan, where prima facie the cause of deaths was said to be asphyxia caused due to lack of oxygen and poisoning due to gases, the police said. “We are in the process of registering an accidental death report,” said an officer.

“The Goswami family has been looking after the Bheemashankar temple for years. The well on the temple premises was being used by the family to run a car washing shed and supply water until a year ago. The family wanted to get the well cleaned so that they could sell the water again,” Shaha said.

The Goswamis are from a small village near Bhavnagar in Gujarat, neighbours said. “Gunawant, his wife Geeta and their sons lived here. The rest of the family lives in the village, where the bodies will be taken for final rites,” said Shaha.

Kishor Giri Goswami, Rahul’s cousin, said: “I don’t know what to do right now. The bodies need to be transported and everyone is asking for a lot of money.”

Mahesh Jadhaw, a KDMC employee and friend of Anant Shelar, said: “Shelar was a very daring man. In multiple situations, he would walk into danger and save lives without worrying about his own. I am sure something like that happened here too.” Shelar is survived by his wife and two children.

A distant relative of Pramod Waghchaure said he is survived by his wife, a four-year-old son and mother.

“It is a sad incident. I have ordered an inquiry. We will also try to provide jobs to the dependents of both the deceased,” said KDMC Commissioner Govind Bodke.