6-yr-old falls in Noida drain, NDRF roped in for search

A six-year-old child fell into an open drain here Monday afternoon following which a search operation was launched by the police and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to rescue him, police said.

The incident took place in the afternoon when a couple of children were crossing the drain near Salarpur Khadar village and one of them accidentally fell into it, a police official said.

The child has been identified as Saurabh, a class 1 student, who lived with his family in a village in Sector 81, the official said.

"An alert call was received at the local police station around 4 pm and rescue efforts was launched. The child has not been traced yet," Circle Officer Vimal Kumar Singh said.

Another official involved in the operation said the drain is not very deep, but considering the height of the child it is risky.

"The sludge and other pollutants in the drain are impacting the search operation," the official told PTI.

Besides police, a unit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also reached the site and launched search efforts.

NDRF official Jitendra Kumar Yadav, who was leading the operation, said there was a huge rush of water in the drain and his nine-member team searched about one km area till 9.15 pm when the operation was temporarily suspended.

"We have identified some pockets where we would resume search early Tuesday morning," Yadav told PTI.