Two separate inquiries have been ordered following the death of a 61-year-old French tourist inside Fatehpur Sikri fort on Thursday. These are being conducted by the District Magistrate, Agra, and Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), respectively. Esma Boudjakbji Ben Yelles, part of a group of 36 tourists who had arrived in Agra after visiting Jodhpur, had fallen from a nine-foot-high platform following the collapse of a wooden railing. The incident took place in the Turkish Sultana Mahal of the 16th-century UNESCO World Heritage Site in the afternoon when a group of five French tourists apparently leaned on the railing while trying to click photographs. Raj Kumar Patel, superintending archaeologist, ASI, said the woman had received injuries on her head, but she was not found bleeding at the spot of the accident. Meanwhile, officials told The Indian Express that Joint Director-General Sanjay Manjul, who will be heading the internal probe, has been dispatched to Agra. When contacted, ASI Joint D-G, TJ Alone, said, “An official inquiry has been launched by the ASI Headquarters in Delhi, and the report will be submitted soon.” When contacted, the PRO of Agra's DM Bhanu Chandra Goswami said an inquiry has been ordered into the matter. Asked about safety measures on the premises, Alone said, “During our regular conservation and restoration work at centrally protected monuments, site-specific advisories are issued from time to time keeping the safety of visitors in mind.” 'Woman taken to hospital 40km away' The woman was taken to S N Medical College in Agra, around 40 kilometres from Fatehpur Sikri, and was later shifted to a private hospital in Sikandra, where she was declared dead. Many onlookers, however, claimed the woman could have been saved had the ambulance arrived at the spot sooner. The woman's body has been sent for postmortem and the report is awaited. Officials said appropriate action will be taken if any negligence is found. "There are two issues involved in the case. First, whether immediate medical help was provided or not, and whether the railing was faulty,” said Patel. He said that the incident took place at 1.30 pm and within two minutes, the guard called the security in-charge commander, and the Quick Response Team (QRT) reached the spot in 5 minutes. “They called for an ambulance at 1.37 pm and the ambulance was confirmed at 1.40 pm. The ambulance arrived at the spot at 2.02 pm. This is as per our call detail records,” he said. “If any such incident happens, our priority is to take the injured to the nearest hospital, which is a Community Health Center (CHC). But we do not clearly know who advised them to go to S N Medical College, which is around 40 Km away,” he added. Patel said he carried out a preliminary inquiry after the incident and found that the railings were installed in December 2020, after a similar incident involving people falling down the structure. Patel said the railing was not equipped for load bearing, adding it only worked as barricades for visitors. “Prima facie, the railings broke because of the load as they (the tourists) were taking pictures in a group,” he said.
