The Hindu : Front Page : Five killed in factory mishap

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Sunday, Dec 31, 2006
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Five killed in factory mishap

Rajesh Nair

PUDUCHERRY: Five workers were killed and three others injured in an accident at a papermaking factory at Thiruvandarkoil, 20 km from here, on Saturday.

The workers of Karur K.C.P Packaging had entered a deep pit — from which the industrial slurry is carried to the treatment tanks — to clean the valve.

Kannan, one of the injured who is undergoing treatment at the General Hospital, told the police that the discharge valve suddenly opened and the slurry started gushing in. His colleague Sivanandham, who was the first to reach the pit, fell down.

Kannan and another worker, who were standing on the ladder that leads to the pit, saw him falling unconscious and cried out for help. "I could only remember the sight of other workers climbing down and regained consciousness only after reaching the hospital," he said. Besides a rope tied on to them, the workers did not have any other safety mechanism. They would clean the pit daily.

Govindarajan, Medical Superintendent of the Government Hospital, said all the five were brought dead. Doctors said they could have died of asphyxia.

The deceased were identified as Abduheer, Amurudeen and Sivanandham of Madagadipetpalayam and Stalin Shankar and John Kennedy of Tiruchi. They were in their early 20s and 30s. Besides Kannan, who hails from Puducherry, the other injured are, Vigneswaran of Puducherry and Govind Kumar Bharath of Orissa. They are being treated as in-patients.

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