A PhD scholar from IIT Delhi, Surabhi Verma, died, and three others sustained injuries when a 10-foot-deep pit collapsed near the Harappan site of Lothal in Gujarat on Wednesday morning, news agency PTI reported. The group was conducting research at the archaeological site, located about 80 km from Ahmedabad, when the accident occurred.
The team, comprising two researchers from IIT Delhi and two from IIT Gandhinagar, was collecting soil samples for a paleoclimatology study when the pit's walls caved in, burying them under soil. Ahmedabad Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) Om Prakash Jat said, "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."
The incident happened around 11 a.m. near the ancient Indus Valley civilisation site. The researchers had hired an excavator to dig the pit, located outside the boundaries of the main protected site. "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," SP Jat explained while speaking to The Indian Express. "It took the police 15 minutes to reach the site due to the distance between the accident spot and the nearest police station."
Among the injured was Professor Dixit, an Assistant Professor at IIT Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), where Verma was pursuing her research. "We managed to rescue Professor Dixit but her condition was fragile. She was moved to CHC Bagodara, Ahmedabad, and later to Apollo Hospital in Gandhinagar because she had breathing problems and her oxygen was lower than optimum levels," Jat added.
The other members of the team, Associate Professor VN Prabhakar and Senior Research Fellow Shikha Rai from the Archaeological Sciences Centre at IIT Gandhinagar, sustained minor injuries.
Sub-Inspector PN Gohil of Koth police station stated that the accident occurred near dilapidated guesthouses outside the main archaeological site. "The academicians were conducting their sample-collection exercise outside the main archaeological site of Lothal. They had hired someone with an excavator to dig a pit near the old, dilapidated guesthouses and were carrying out their work inside. However, since the soil in this area is very loose and the fact that water surged from the ground could be the reasons behind the collapse,” he told IE.
According to the report, Superintending Archaeologist at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Vadodara Circle, Dr Abhijit Ambekar said, "A team from Vadodara has been sent to the site to inquire into the incident. Whether permission for the excavation was given to them and by whom will be inquired."
Lothal, a prominent site of the Indus Valley civilisation, is situated approximately 70 km from Ahmedabad and 20 km from the nearest police station in Koth.