Four labourers electrocuted while pitching up tents

Four labourers were electrocuted when iron polls pitched up for a shamiyana (ceremonial tent) touched overhead electric wires in South Bengaluru on Wednesday. Another five labourers were injured.

The accident occurred at a four-acre land in Indlabele near Attibele between 11 am and 11.30 am. The labourers were hired from Usha Kiran Tent House, HSR Layout, to put up the awnings for the inauguration of a building project.

The deceased are Akash, 30, Mahadesh, 35, Vishakanta, 35, and Vijay Singh, 30. The injured are Vishnu Kumar, 19, Arun Kumar, 20, Beeranna, 19, Deepak Kumar, 20, and Gurudev, 25.

When the labourers pitched up the iron polls, the supervisor told them they had erected them at the extreme ends and asked them to shift the polls a few feet inside. Rather than dismantling the polls, the labourers lifted them up when they touched the 66/11kV electric wire passing over the property.

The labourers collapsed on the spot. Four of them were declared brought dead at a hospital while the other five are being treated in the ICU.

Attibele police have taken up a case under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the supervisor, tent house owner, landowner, developer, project manager and contractor.

The bodies of the deceased have been kept in the mortuary and the post-mortem will be conducted on Thursday.

Among the dead, Akash was from Kalaburagi, Mahadesh from Hanur in Chamarajanagar, Vishakanta from T Narasipura in Mysuru and Singh from Jharkhand. Among the injured, Vishnu and Gurudev are from Jharkhand, Arun and Beeranna from Kalaburagi and Deepak is from Bihar.

Some of the labourers stayed in the accommodation provided by the tent house owner while others rented homes. Police said the family members of the deceased were yet to arrive in the city to collect their remains.