Two people died and several others were injured when a rock fell on the workers at a stone quarry at Marayamuttom in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday morning.
One of the deceased has been identified as Satheesh, a native of Salem in Tamil Nadu. He reportedly died on the spot. The other person who died is Dinilkumar, a native of Marayamuttom.
“We are yet to trace the other details about the deceased, “ Marayamuttom police said.
The accident occurred around 10.30 am. Satheesh and Dinilkumar were crushed by the rock while five others who were also working at the quarry got injured.
According to the police, a huge piece of the rock was left uncrushed on Thursday, and the workers didn’t notice that it was about to fall when they resumed work on Friday. The workers had been engaged in the work at the ground level when the rock fell from the top.
The police also said that the quarry had been functioning without a license. “We had given report in this regard to the authorities concerned in 2016, but no action was taken against the quarry owner,” Marayamuttom Sub Inspector MT Mrudul Kumar told TNM.
The quarry is owned by a man named Aloysius of Kottakkal.
The body of Satheesh is being kept at Taluk Hospital Neyyatinkara. The injured workers were first rushed to the same hospital. However three of them were later shifted to the Medical College hospital in the city as the injuries are serious.
Quarrying has raised serious threats to workers and residents in various parts of the district.
Local residents have been protesting against mining at a granite quarry at Mukkunnimala in the outskirts of the district.
Nearly 300 people at Mukkunnimala have been alleging that illegal quarrying has been going on in the area, and that it should be stopped.