AHMEDABAD: A 25-year-old climate researcher from IIT-Delhi collecting sediment samples inside an excavation pit at a Harappan-era site in Gujarat’s Lothal died Wednesday of suspected asphyxiation and injuries after a cave-in left her and a professor-guide trapped in mud.
Surabhi Verma, a native of UP’s Sitapur, was pronounced dead soon after rescuers brought her out along with IIT-Delhi professor Yama Dixit, who was hospitalised with symptoms of oxygen deprivation. Two other people injured in the cave-in were treated at the site.
Ahmedabad Rural SP Om Prakash Jat told TOI, “A rescue team was dispatched immediately, but one of those trapped in the pit couldn’t be saved. We have registered a case of accidental death and sent the body for postmortem,” he said.
The deceased was part of a paleo-climatic study team from her institute and IIT-Gandhinagar. They were camping at the site dating back to 2400 BCE to 1600 BCE, about 80km southwest of Ahmedabad, since the start of the week. The team was attempting to understand climate during the Harappan era and how it changed over the millennia, sources said.
Sources at the Gandhinagar hospital where Dixit is being treated said she suffered head and knee injuries. “The depletion in oxygen level was due to shock and the nature of the accident. But she is stable and under observation. Her family has arrived,” an official said.
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