RC 05 07Jan2014

A 26-year-old construction labourer
was buried alive while another
escaped with injuries when a heap
of earth caved in on them at an
under construction site in
Kammanahalli in the City on
Tuesday morning.
The body of the deceased Bharath,
which was trapped in the debris of
the collapsed earth and iron rods
fixed for construction of a retaining,
was retrieved after more than seven
hours of rescue operation carried out
by the personnel from Fire and
Emergency Services.
Police said the incident took place
around 9.30 am soon after Bharath, a
native of West Bengal, and Birbal, a
native of Jharkand, began digging
the earth for construction of a
retaining wall for the basement of an
apartment spread across a site
measuring about 4,400 square feet.
As soon as the earth fell on them
from a height of around 12 feet,
Anand, an employee in a welding
shop nearby ran to their rescue with
implements from the shop. He
managed to pull out Birbal from
underneath the heap of earth. While
Birbal was taken away to a hospital
in Indiranagar, Anand tried in vain to
rescue Bharath, whose hand was
visible amid the rubble.
Soon, personnel from the Fire and
Emergency Services reached the
spot and started the operation to
rescue Bharat. “Retrieving the body
was a complex operation as the
earth had collapsed on the iron rods
that had been fixed for building the
retention wall”, a Fire Force
personnel said.
BBMP officials said the land was
jointly owned by three persons, who
were building an apartment complex
comprising basement plus three
floors. The owners had obtained all
the necessary permission and soil-
testing too had been carried out, the
officials said. However, the mishap
had taken place due to the
negligence of the owner and the
builders, a BBMP official said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of
Police (East) Harsha, who also
visited the spot, said a case of
negligence has been booked against

http://m.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/one-buried-alive-as-earth-caves-in-at-construction-site-in-bangalore/article5549436.ece/