Two construction workers were killed on Friday in Mangaluru after a wall collapsed on them. The wall which collapsed was built on an adjacent plot to the land where the workers were engaged in construction of a multistorey building. Fire officials said the retaining wall collapsed during excavation work for the basement of the building.
The incident occured near Bunts Hostel Junction in Karangalpady part of the city at around 1:15 pm.
Fire and Emergency Personnel from Pandeshwar and Kadri who rushed to the spot were able to rescue at least four persons with one person severely injured. The Karnataka Fire Department said that the two bodies had to be extracted from the debris of the collapsed wall. The two deceased have been identified as Bheemesh and Masirgul, both from Bagalkote and West Bengal respectively, police officials said.
District Fire Officer Mohammed Nawaz told TNM that while one person escaped safely out of the debris, they rescued two other persons. After that as per protocol, they excavated the surrounding area both manually and with earthmovers to ensure there was no other persons trapped.
two dead bodies extracted from the debris of collapsed wall in under construction building. In Mangalore, Pandeshwara. @SunilagarwalI @beyondcarlton pic.twitter.com/Cz9lRN3YNF
— Karnataka Fire Dept (@KarFireDept) February 28, 2020
Mangaluru South MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Vedavyas Kamath was on the spot overseeing the rescue efforts.
“The state government will provide compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and all medical costs of the injured will be borne by the government,” Karnataka Labour Department Secretary Captain Manivannan told TNM.
Friday’s incident comes after at least three persons were killed in Bengaluru and another 15 were injured when an under-construction water tank had collapsed in June 2019.
In a large-scale tragedy, 19 persons had died and several were injured after they were buried alive under the debris of an under-construction building in north Karnataka’s Dharwad. That incident took place in March 2019.