- Seven workers died after a boulder fell on them at a Bengaluru stone quarry
- The boulder fell from about 40 feet during excavation using an excavator
- Police and officials conducted rescue operations and investigated the collapse
Seven workers were killed on Thursday when a massive boulder fell on them while working at a stone quarry in Madapattana village, located on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Several people who were trapped under the debris were later rescued.
The incident took place when excavation work was underway using an excavator at the top of the quarry owned by Kaveri Company. During the operation, a large boulder became dislodged and crashed onto workers carrying out work below.
One of the labourers told news agency PTI that there were about 18 workers at the site, and the huge rock fell from about 40 feet on the workers.
Police rushed to the spot and launched rescue and recovery operations. Senior officials were supervising the operation, while efforts were underway to ascertain the exact cause of the collapse.
The workers of the quarry are natives of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and efforts were underway to inform the families of the victims.
Reacting to the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, "One unfortunate incident has happened in a stone quarry around Magadi Road. So, I have watched all the officials, and they are already on the spot. They are getting the report. I have got a report that two bodies have been recovered and about seven of them have been trapped, but still the number and things are not known."
"They said in the first report that it is not about the blasting. It is on the soil where erosion has happened. I'll get the report on that, and I will see whether it has been quarried as per the norms and what the norms were which have to be practised. So we'll issue fresh guidelines on this type of quarrying activity in the entire state. I should see that no activity, no such incident, will happen," he added.
