Six people died and several others sustained injuries after boulders fell on them in a quarry at Phirangipuram area in Guntur district on Saturday.
The incident took place in the afternoon following a blast at the hilltop.
The deceased have been identified as Balaswamy, Nageswara, Rainappa, Durgan, Shravan and Venkatiaha.
“Some of them belong to Krishna District and others from a nearby area. A few other workers who were injured have been shifted to Government General Hospital in Guntur,” said Phirangipuram police.
Following the incident, the district collector Kona Sasidhar and Superintendent of Police Narayan Naik, rushed to the spot.
According to PTI, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased.
An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
The mining department has been directed to verify the quarry licence and all quarrying activity in the area has been temporarily suspended, after the incident.
On May 9, in a similar incident in Andhra’s Prakasam district, three workers had died at a granite quarry.
The workers were crushed to death under a granite block in a quarry in Mallayapalem in Ballikurava block.
According to reports, the workers were having lunch below the block, when a few other workers blasted the stone without alerting them.