PhD Student Dies During Excavation for Her Research Work

A student from IIT Delhi lost her life while she was gathering samples for her research. The deceased is identified as Surbhi Verma who went to the Harappa civilization site and started excavating with four other students and her professor.

The professor named Yama Dixit was also trapped under the mud lump however, the rescue team took him out the first but failed to rescue Surbhi. The condition of the professor is said to be critical. The incident happened around 11 AM when researchers dug a pit in Lothal, a popular port city near Gujrat.

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India was directed to investigate and report the situation. As per reports from the Superintendent of police in rural Ahmedabad, “The team had dug up a pit in Lothal and was collecting samples when the pit collapsed, burying two of the four members at the spot. It took the police 15 minutes to reach the site due to the distance between the accident spot and the nearest police station. In all, there were five people there, including the driver.”

The SP also claimed “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.”

In a conversation with a news agency, the SP further informed that “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 guest houses 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.”