Minor girl dies after falling into ventilation shaft of Thane high-rise

A tragic incident unfolded late on Monday night in Maharashtra’s Thane district, where a 10-year-old girl lost her life after falling into a ventilation duct of a multi-storey residential building in the Mumbra area. According to news agency PTI, the mishap occurred at the Shraddha Prati building located in Samrat Nagar, and was reported to the Thane Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell at 11.48 pm.

As per PTI reports, the girl was not a resident of the building in question. She is believed to have entered the premises under circumstances that remain unclear, prompting an active investigation into how she accessed the duct. Authorities are also looking into whether any safety lapses or negligence may have contributed to the incident.

The building`s vertical ventilation shaft, into which the child is said to have fallen, runs through all ten floors. A loud thud heard by a resident reportedly alerted others to the situation. When they checked the base of the duct, they found the girl lying motionless.

Emergency response teams, including officials from Mumbra police station, the local fire brigade, a regional disaster management unit and a private ambulance, swiftly reached the location. According to PTI, the rescue operation proved to be particularly challenging due to the narrow and confined nature of the shaft. Nevertheless, fire brigade personnel managed to retrieve the girl and rushed her to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa. Sadly, doctors there declared her brought dead.

The deceased was identified as a resident of Mumbradevi Apartment, situated nearby at Thakurpada in Mumbra. The body has since been sent for a post-mortem examination.

The Mumbra police have registered a case of accidental death and launched a formal inquiry. Investigators are examining whether the ventilation shaft was left dangerously exposed and if the building had taken sufficient measures to secure such potentially hazardous areas.

“This is a deeply unfortunate incident. The safety of open ventilation shafts in residential high-rises must be seriously reviewed, especially in buildings frequented by children,” a civic official involved in the operation told news agency PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)