A 21-year-old labourer died after being trapped under a large mound of earth that caved in at a construction site on Infantry Road on Monday afternoon. Two other co-workers were injured in the incident.
The deceased, Munna Kumar, and two others had been digging the earth for the foundation of the building. Around 12.45 pm, the earth caved in. Mud fell on them from a height of about 30 feet, burying Munna, police said.
Imtiaz Khan, a labourer, said, “Munna was buried underneath the mound. We were able to rescue another labourer within 20 minutes, as only his legs were trapped. Some neighbours called the fire force for help.”
A third labourer, whose identity is not known, sustained minor scratches. Officials from the Fire and Emergency Services as well as police officers rushed to the spot and recovered Munna’s body around 2 p.m.
He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. The rescued labourer, Rajkumar Singh (20), was also taken to a hospital.
All three are from Chhapra in Bihar. They had been working for over a month at the site where an apartment complex is being constructed. Labourers said that about 10 workers are residing in makeshift sheds at the site.
The plot belongs to retired Director General of Police Nizamuddin Shah and the construction work had been contracted to a man named Vishwanath, police said. He has been booked for negligence by the Commercial Street police.
