IIT-Delhi PhD student killed in excavation pit collapse near Harappan site in Gujarat

A PhD student from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi died on Wednesday after an excavation pit collapsed near Lothal, an archaeological site associated with the Harappan Civilisation in Gujarat, reported The Indian Express.

The student who died was identified as 23-year-old Surabhi Verma. Her professor and two researchers from IIT-Gandhinagar’s Archaeological Sciences Centre were injured in the accident.

The team of Verma, IIT-Delhi assistant professor Yama Dixit and IIT-Gandhinagar researchers VN Prabhakar and Shikha Rai was collecting soil samples for a study on palaeoclimatology.

The excavation site was outside the main protected area at Lothal, around 80 kilometres from Ahmedabad.

The police said the group had hired an excavator to dig a 10-foot-deep pit near dilapidated guesthouses when the loose and waterlogged soil gave way, burying Verma and Dixit.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Om Prakash Jat said that locals alerted authorities and that first responders arrived within 15 minutes.

Verma was declared dead at the scene. Dixit was first taken to a community health centre in Bagodara and later transferred to Apollo Hospital in Gandhinagar with breathing difficulties.

“No designated archaeologists were present during the excavation and the researchers may have lacked expertise in such operations,” said Sub-Inspector PN Gohil.

A preliminary inquiry suggested that the team did not have permission to dig at the site, a prohibited area.

Abhijit Ambekar,...

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