A 22-year-old worker was killed and six others were injured when a portion of a hillock abutting a construction site caved in at Konchady on Tuesday.
The police gave the name of the victim as Nazbur Hooda (22) from West Bengal.
He was among the seven persons who were trapped in a huge pile of mud around noon. Fire and Emergency Services personnel cleared the debris and found Hooda dead.
The remaining injured labourers were moved to a nearby private hospital. The condition of Vadat Mondal (50), an injured worker, was said to be critical.
Among the injured was 45-year-old Shankaramma, a native of Hungund in Bagalkot, who had come to work at the construction site on Tuesday.
Ms. Shankaramma said she was among the 15 persons working at the construction site. They were all engaged in piling up stones in a pit. They had started the work around 8 a.m.
“It happened all of a sudden. Many of us were trapped in the debris. There was not much time for us to react,” said Shankaramma, who had been trapped in the mud waist high. None of the workers had any inkling about the loose nature of the soil they were working with, she said.
Delayed rescue
Fellow labourer Dundamma said she was saved from injury as she had just moved away from the place of accident to drink water.
“Devi (her fellow labourer) and I just moved out to drink water.” Ms. Dundamma said workers near the accident spot had a hard time removing the trapped workers.
“Although the people started assembling in good numbers, no one came forward to remove the trapped persons despite their cries for help. It was difficult for us to rescue the trapped persons,” she said. The Fire and Emergency Services personnel took help of earthmovers to remove a huge pile of mud and rescue the six workers trapped under.
The Fire and Emergencypersonnel made a thorough search before winding up the rescue operations.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central) Kavita B.T. said a case of negligence had been taken up against the builder, Raghunath Somayaji.
