Three students who took up part-time work during the summer vacation were among those killed when mud caved in at a construction site in the city on Saturday.
In all seven persons were killed and one suffered critical injuries as land slipped on them in a 15-foot deep pit at Lakshmipuram. Of the seven were the three students — Jonnalagadda Prasanth (17), Bussi Solomon (19) and Seshu (19). Prasanth passed SSC recently, Seshu and Solomon were pursuing second year degree. They were all natives of the SC Colony in Gottipadu village of Prathipadu mandal of Guntur district. “We came to know of the incident through television. Prasanth’s father J. Manikya Rao died recently and he was helping his mother Marathamma in running the family by doing some labour work. He was also paying for his sister Leelavathi’s education. She completed her graduation and was undergoing training for Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) tests at Ongole,” said Prasanth’s aunt Muchu Mariya Ratnam, at the Guntur Government General Hospital mortuary on Sunday.
“My sister (Marathamma) was an agricultural labourer and was educating her two children with great difficulty. Marathamma and Prasanth were earning about Rs. 600 per day. Now she has lost her only son.”
“[Bussi] Solomon was a good student and was financially helping his family. I saw about 18 workers coming for work around 6 a.m., along with two masons on Saturday. By evening I saw the shocking news,” said Babu, a native of Gottipadu village. Seshu was a distant relative and neighbour of Solomon in the Colony.
