‘Dad, I’m drowning, please save me’

Noida: The father of a 27-year-old techie who died from drowning after his car plunged into a water-filled ditch in Noida recalled his son’s heartbreaking last call. The tragic incident took place late Friday night when Yuvraj Mehta was returning home from work amid dense fog when his vehicle hit a raised drainage boundary and plunged into a 70-foot-deep basement near Sector-150 in Greater Noida. Despite repeated attempts by rescue teams and frantic calls to his father, he could not be saved.

Noida techie’s father blames authorities for negligence

Speaking to CNN News18, the techie’s father, Rajkumar Mehta, has blamed authorities for what he described as a failure of infrastructure and emergency readiness, stating that the incident could have been avoided. He added that his son desperately pleaded to save him, but no proper equipment or trained personnel were available at the site.

“Please save my son”: Father requests passersby

“I was requesting everyone there that if anyone knew how to swim, please save my son. The authorities had only a rope, nothing else,” Noida techie’s father was quoted as saying. According to the family, passersby and bystanders heard Yuvraj loudly screaming to rescue him as the vehicle began to submerge into the water-filled ditch.

‘Dad, I’m drowning’: Yuvraj’s last words on call to father

Rajkumar Mehta further stated that his son had managed to call him shortly after the crash. “He told me, Dad, I’ve fallen into a deep pit filled with water. I’m drowning. Please come and save me. I don’t want to die,” he recalled.

Mehta alleged that the police, divers, and disaster response teams arrived at the site, but the rescue efforts were repeatedly delayed. He added that even when the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team reached, they told a boat could not be deployed into the basement. “A JCB was later called to create a slope. By then, the boat was being brought not to rescue my son, but to recover his body,” he said. 

Family files FIR

Yuvraj’s car was later pulled out after five hours, but he had already died by that time. An FIR has been registered in the matter. “I want authorities to ensure that all safety measures are put in place so no other parent has to face this,” Mehta added.

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