JOIN USGlaring loopholes in labour safety measures in the City came to the fore as two labourers died on the spot while seven others, including a junior engineer, were grievously injured after an under-construction overhead tank at the Corps of Military Police campus in Anepalya caved in on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Prem (20) from Bihar and Tippaiah (31) from Andhra Pradesh. The injured – Obaleshwara (28), Veeranjaneyulu (33), Ravi (33), Mehboob (45), Rajesh (29), Rafeeq (22) and Raju (48) – were rescued by Army personnel.
Nine men were engaged in the work on the overhead tank with a capacity of one lakh litres. The tank apparently collapsed under its own weight, bringing down all nine men. Srikanth Gowda, who sells tea just outside the campus, told Deccan Herald that he was startled by a sudden loud thud at around 2:15 pm.
“We heard the men who were trapped under the debris screaming for help,” recounted Gowda. Fire brigade and police personnel rushed to the spot with three fully equipped rescue vehicles within minutes.
By the time they arrived, a man was rescued by the Army personnel in the campus and admitted to St Philomena’s Hospital.
He was later identified as Raju, a junior engineer with the Garrison Engineering (south) division, who was in charge of the construction of the tank. Hospital sources said he sustained multiple injuries and was shifted to the intensive care unit. Doctors, however, said he was out of danger.
The fire brigade promptly rescued those trapped under the debris. While Obaleshwara and Raju are being treated at St Philomena’s, the rest were admitted to Air Command Hospital on Old Airport Road. Sources said out of the five people being treated at Command Hospital, three are critical. One of the victims has sustained a severe spinal chord injury.