Seven workers died and five others injured after a huge boulder fell at a stone quarry in Madapattana village near Bengaluru on Thursday.
The incident happened while excavating at Kaveri Company’s quarry. Officials say that a massive rock detached from the quarry’s peak and fell on men doing work at the bottom of the quarry.
The rock, which fell from almost 40 feet was estimated to have influenced up to 18 workers at the site, some of whom were working below when the Boulder hit, according to a labourer at the site.
Police and rescue crews quickly arrived at the scene and set about searching for and recovering the missing child. A number of rescuers working on the site were trapped under the debris but were rescued; senior officials led the rescue operations as well as carried out an investigation regarding cause of the collapse.
According to reports, the victims and the deceased were hailing from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Authorities have started reaching out to the families of the victims.
In response, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar commented that the officials were deployed at the scene right away and the government was keeping a close watch on the rescue. He added that a detailed report was requested and remedial steps will follow following an investigation.
The accident has further sparked concerns about safety and working conditions in state’s stone quarries.