Two men, who were working at a private sand quarry near Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram district, were killed when the sand caved in reportedly due to the rains on Monday evening. Operations are still underway on Tuesday to remove the bodies from debris. The two men were migrant labourers from Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

Speaking to TNM, the sub-inspector of Salavakkam police station, Nithyanandam said, “Last evening there was heavy rain and the workers were standing on the banks of the water source next to an earth mover. Suddenly, the sand caved in and they got buried inside the land.”

“We are currently conducting the rescue operations and a case will be booked once we retrieve the body. A case will be booked against the owner, incharge and a supervisor,” he said.

The police personnel will also initiate an inquiry to find out if the quarry has the permit and whether all safety norms were followed. 

Sand mining thrives in the state and especially in Kancheepuram district. In 2000, U Sagayam was the then district revenue officer of Kancheepuram became a target of the sand mafia, who threatened him for taking action against illegal sand mining in the Palar river.  After this, he was reportedly given a private gun license and was later transferred.

In February, there was a similar incident where a worker was killed and two others suffered injuries after a stone quarry caved in at Kancheepuram district. The incident took place while the workers were breaking stones on the premises and suddenly a portion of the quarry caved in. The stones fell on those working in the quarry. Then Tiruvallur District Collector Mageswari Ravikumar called engineers from the Department of Geology and Mining to check the stability of the quarry and then ordered them to take action against the culprits. At the time, she said that inspections will be conducted in the remaining quarries.