Worker killed as earth caves in at Sewerage Board site

A 35-year-old labourer died and another was injured after earth caved in at a Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) project site in Gottigere on Kammanahalli Main Road on Thursday.

The victim has been identified as Prabhat, a native of Bihar. He was working at the site as a bar bender. The incident took place at 3:05pm when he, along with the injured Satyandar, 40, was placing wooden slabs at a trench, dug to lay water pipes as part of the Cauvery project.

The boards were being placed to lay concrete slabs. The duo was also fixing iron rods to support the concrete slabs. The water pipes were to be placed above the concrete slabs.

Earth caved in from one side of the 20-ft deep trench, trapping Prabhat and Satyandar, also a native of Bihar, under a truckload of mud. About 20 fire department personnel sprang into action by 3.12pm and finished the rescue operation in 20 minutes.

The mud was removed by using a bulldozer. Satyandar was rescued at 3:20pm and was rushed to Fortis Hospital. Prabhat was dead by the time he could be pulled out.

A postmortem will be carried out at Victoria Hospital on Friday.
The police said that the work at the site was being carried out for the past two months. The two workers were working the L-shaped trench, about 20-ft deep and 15-ft wide. The pipe route turns towards Electronics City at the accident site.

Assistant commissioner of police D Rachappa said that a case of negligence has been filed against the contractor Jayanth Kumar. He is yet to be arrested.