Mangaluru: Two persons were buried alive under the rubble while they were working, near the Central Railway Station here on November 2.
A rescue operation was initiated immediately. Local MLA J R Lobo visited the spot and was monitoring the rescue work.
The deceased have been identified as Raju and Babu, aged around 25 to 30 years, from Gadag.
Speaking to mangalorean.com Mayor Jacintha Alfred said that there was a emergency underground drainage work going on at the Railway lane at the cost of Rs 25 lakh. When the workers were working, a water pipe broke resulting in leakage of water which cause the landslide burying alive two of the labourers. We feel sad that two people lost their lives. May their soul rest in peace and the Almighty God give their family members strength to bear the loss of their dear ones. When asked about the compensation, the Mayor said that we will discuss about it and decide.
MLC Ivan D’Souza said, “It is very sad that within 2 days 6 lives have been lost, on November 1, two priests died in a road accident, today morning two people have been murdered in the Sub jail. Now in the afternoon when two labourers from Gadag were working at the railway lane, due to the landslide two persons are buried alive. When carrying out such work the contractor should take precautionary measures. When asked whether the contractor has any insurance for the workers, he said that the labourers had joined just two days ago. The contractor or the government should pay compensation to their families. A case will be filed in the Pandeshwar police station and since it is a Railway colony, the Railway police also have the responsibility. He urged the MCC to pay compensation to their families because they are the bread winners of the family.
Contractor Umanath said that two days ago, Raju and Babu from Gadag had joined work. Today they were working near the railway lane when the tragic incident took place.
Chief Fire Officer Sashidhar said, “When there was a landslide due to water pipeline damage in the railway lane, the rescue operation was not possible. At 3:30 pm we received a call about two persons being buried under the rubble, we reached the spot immediately and tried to trace them, but it was not possible because of the continuous flow of water and landslide. We deployed 20 to 25 personnel to dry the water and finally we were able to recover the bodies.