Mudslide kills 3 labourers at construction site in Madikeri

Madikeri: Three labourers were killed after being buried under debris of a mudslide at a construction site near Red Cross at Stewart Hill in Madikeri on Tuesday evening.

The deceased have been identified as Ananda (35), a native of Haveri, Basava (35) and Lingappa (45) from Hubballi.

The incident took place when the labourers were constructing the reclining wall of the building at around 5.45 pm. The pile of mud fell on the working men. Two of them, Raju(35) and Manju (38) were immediately rescued by the fellow labourers and have been hospitalised but the other 3 got trapped under the mud.

Emergency service personnel were called upon but by the time they could start the rescue operation, the trio had already died. police said. The operation took more than an hour. Two earth mowers were used to clear the debris.

The construction work was being carried out at the site belonging to one Pradeep. A total of seven labourers were working at the time of the incident. The mud fell from a height of 10 feet and the three labourers were trapped under the soil under a depth of four to five feet, the emergency services personnel said.

The trio were taken to the hospital but were declared dead soon after.

Negligence behind the incident?

Kodagu district Superintendent of Police K Ramarajan said that negligence was the main reason for the unfortunate incident. On primary investigation, it was revealed that the nature of the soil was loose. Despite the same, necessary precautions were not taken. Serious action will be initiated against the persons responsible for the incident, Ramarajan said.

Madikeri MLA Dr Mantar Gowda too stated that the loss of lives was due to the irresponsibility of the builder. No safety measures were followed, he said.

Gowda and the SP rushed to the site and led the rescue operations.

Later, Kodagu district in-charge minister N S Bhosaraju visited the spot. He also called to check upon the injured labourers at the hospital.

Meanwhile, chief minister Siddaramaiah has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased.