Four dead in slab collapse at JK Cement unit in MP's Panna; rescue ops over

Panna: Four labourers were killed and 15 others injured on Thursday morning in a slab collapse at a JK Cement factory in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district, police said. The incident took place at an under-construction unit of the factory located near Amaanganj town, 350 km from Bhopal, around 10 am. "Four labourers, including three from Bihar's Purnia and one from Simaria police station limits (in Panna district), died. Fifteen others were injured, who have been shifted to Katni for better treatment," said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Lalit Shakyawar.

Rescue operations, during which drones were used to check if anyone was trapped under the debris, were over, he said.

"A probe is being carried out to ascertain the exact cause behind the incident. Those guilty will not be spared. Prima facie, the shuttering (scaffolding of planks supporting setting concrete) of a beam on the seventh floor suddenly gave in," Shakyawar said.

The deceased have been identified as Ansar Alam (34), Masood (32), Musfir (36), all residents of Purnia, and Rohit Khare (32) of Simaria. The company will pay compensation of Rs 18 lakh each to kin of the deceased labourers and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured persons, he informed.

The injured persons will also get their regular salaries while undergoing treatment, Shakyawar said, adding the company has agreed to bear the cost of shifting the bodies of the deceased labourers to their native places. Senior officials including Divisional Commissioner Virendra Singh Rawat as well as a State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) arrived at the spot for rescue operations, said Panna Superintendent of Police Sai Krishna S Thota.

State BJP chief and Khajuraho MP Vishnu Dutt Sharma, in whose constituency the factory is located, earlier said he had demanded that the factory management pay compensation and also provide jobs to the kin of the deceased. Former Congress minister Raja Pateria, in a letter to the Panna collector, demanded Rs 1 crore each as compensation to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50 lakh each for the injured persons. He also sought a judicial probe into the incident.