Child dies after falling into highway construction pit, contracting firm booked

A 3-year-old girl died on Thursday after falling into a pit dug for constructing a highway in Thane district, a police official said.

The girl, from Mira Bhayander area, had come with parents to attend a religious function in Balyani in Kalyan, he said.

''Rahmunissa Riyaz Shaikh fell into a water-filled pit in the Titwala section of the under construction Vadodara-JNPT highway. She was playing nearby. Her body was found after sometime by kin who had mounted a search when she was not seen around,'' he said.

''A case has been registered against the contractor firm in charge of the construction at the site,'' the Titwala police station official informed.

A resident said the site did not have barricades, while former corporator Mayur Patil claimed the contractor's negligence was evident in the incident.