7 killed, 6 injured as boulders cave in at quarry near Bengaluru

Devastating rockfall at a quarry in Ramanagara claimed the lives of seven workers and injured at least six others.

BENGALURU: Seven workers were killed and at least six others were injured after a massive boulder collapsed on a group of labourers at a quarry in Karnataka's Ramanagara district on Thursday morning, police said.The accident took place at the premises of Udayshankar Crushers in Madapattana village, under the Tavarekere police limits, south of Bengaluru.According to police, around 20 workers were at the quarry when loose boulders caved in, sending a huge rock crashing onto the group.Seven workers died at the scene, while six others were injured and taken to RR Hospital on Mysuru Road. Police said two of the injured are in a critical condition.An eyewitness, Vinod Kumar, who was operating an earth-moving machine nearby, said the workers had little time to react."There were around 20 men working in the site when the loose boulders crashed on them. We were just 10 feets away from the accident site. Seven men died on the spot and six of them sustained injuries," he said.Family members of the victims said many of the labourers had travelled from other parts of Karnataka in search of daily wage work.

The mother of Rama Nayak, one of the workers who died, said she received a phone call informing her of the accident at around 7:30am."My son Rama Nayak and others were working since early morning. We are told that the tragedy took place around five am. We had come here for daily wages of around Rs 800 per day. Now my son is dead and who will look after our family?" she wept.The family is from Yadgir district in north Karnataka.Another worker, whose father Raju was among those killed, said he was driving a tractor a short distance away when the boulders collapsed."I was driving the tractor when the accident took place. I was little away from the accident site. On reaching the spot, i saw the body of my father-Raju, lying alone in a spot. I shifted the body to a safe place," he said.One of the survivors, Gopi, who is from Tamil Nadu, alleged that workers had not been warned about the unstable rocks."Our supervisor should have told about the loose boulders. I was working with 20 men and we heard the sound, followed by crashing of boulders. In no time, the boulder fell near us. We ran for safety but others got crushed and died," he said.The incident has renewed concerns over quarry safety and the operation of illegal mining sites in the state.Local MLA ST Somashekhar called for criminal action against not only the quarry owner and manager but also government officials responsible for oversight."I had raised the issue of illegal and unsafe quarrying activities in the assembly long before. Now, this tragedy has occurred and at least, seven men have died. Monetary compensation can be given; but will it bring back the lives of dead persons?" he asked.Karnataka deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said the government would crack down on illegal quarrying following the accident."I will get details of the incident. There are many illegal quarries active, across the state and we will act against them," he said.Police are investigating the cause of the collapse and whether safety norms were violated at the quarry.