Heart wrenching tragedy: IIT Delhi research student killed in cave-in at Lothal archaeological site in Gujarat

In a heart-wrenching tragedy, an IIT Delhi student died after soil collapsed on them when they entered a pit near the archaeological site of Lothal in Gujarat.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Surabhi Verma (23), a PhD scholar at IIT Delhi.

Three other students also suffered injuries.

“A researcher from IIT Delhi, identified as Surabhi Verma, died on the spot. Three others were rescued and rushed to the hospital where their condition was stable,” said a police official.

The students had gone to the ancient Indus Valley civilisation site, some 80 km from Ahmedabad, to do research work when the cave-in occurred, reported PTI, quoting police.

A team of four researchers, two from IIT Delhi and as many from IIT Gandhinagar, were near the archaeological remains of the Harappan port town of Lothal to collect soil samples for study, said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Om Prakash Jat.

Police said that all the victims went inside a 10-foot-deep pit dug up for the purpose when its wall collapsed, burying them under a mound of soil.

According to Desh Gujarat, Assistant Professor Yama Dixit was rescued by locals and is hospitalized in Ahmedabad and is not facing any risk to her life. It is learned that two Assistant Professors from IIT Gandhinagar were also present at the site.

Dikshit is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at IIT-Delhi.

“The team had dug up a pit in Lothal and were collecting samples when the pit collapsed, burying two of the four members at the spot. It took the police 15 minutes to reach the site due to the distance between the accident spot and the nearest police station. In all, there were five people there, including the driver,” reported Indian Express quoting Om Prakash Jat, Superintendent of Police, Rural Ahmedabad.