Vijayawada (AP):
Seven workers were killed after a landslip occurred at the construction site of a multiplex at Lakshmipuram here last night. Another worker was rescued in a critical condition and rushed to the Government General Hospital for treatment.
The workers belonged to Gottipadu village under Pattipadu constituency adjacent to Guntur city. The state government announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the victims’ families, Guntur district Collector Kantilal Dande said.
The incident occurred last night when the 30-feet deep basement work related to the multiplex was going on. Some 18 workers were said to be working there when suddenly eight of them were caught in a landslip.
Following the alarm raised by co-workers, excavators were pressed into service to clear the mud and extricate those trapped underneath.
Initially, only one body could be extricated even as rescue effort was hampered due to collapse of a compound wall of an adjacent building.
The National Disaster Response Force personnel from Mangalagiri rushed to the accident spot and stepped up the operation to dig out bodies.
The workers were identified as T Seshu (21), B.Saolomon (21), B Sunil (21), J Prasanth (18), B Rajesh (25), J Sudha (40) and B Babu (18), Guntur Municipal Commissioner Nagalakshmi said.
Irate villagers of Gottipadu attacked Social Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu’s car as he reached the spot late in the night.
Ravela represents Pattipadu constituency and all victims belong to it. Sensing the angry mood of the victims’ relatives, police whisked the minister away from the scene in their vehicle.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who returned to Vijayawada around 2 AM from a five-day personal trip to Malaysia and Thailand, expressed sorrow over the mishap.
AP Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, MLAs Alapati Rajendra Prasad, N Anand Babu, collector Kantilal Dande and other officials supervised the rescue operation.
jawan of the Indian Army in a frontline unit in the Northeast has died, possibly of a heart attack, after the entire unit was sent on a 10 kilometre march.
The situation resulted in an angry outburst among 4-5 jawans in the area which resulted in a scuffle between soldiers and officers who were dealing with the situation. The army has confirmed that this scuffle has resulted in injuries.
In a statement to the media, the Indian Army has said, “A case of death of a jawan during routine training activity has taken place in an infantry unit in the North East. It is NOT a case of any mutiny. The Jawan complained of chest pain prior to route march - was checked by unit MO (Medical Officer) and found fit. The jawan later collapsed during route march - was brought to the Field Ambulance where he succumbed.”
The Army statement was issued after reports emerged on social media of a “mutiny-like” situation involving officers and jawans in the area.
According to these reports, the 10-km march was a punishment drill which was ordered on the unit after a physical confrontation between a Captain and a jawan.
In this clash, a Captain and three officers were badly injured with the Captain reportedly being in critical condition with skull injuries.
Army Headquarters in Delhi, while confirming the death of a jawan in the subsequent 10-km march, have denied that any other individual has been seriously injured. The Army has also denied that reinforcement units have moved into the area with the situation getting out of hand.
In 2012, in another instance of indiscipline, soldiers of the Army attacked their officers in Nyoma in Ladakh in an incident that the Army had dismissed as a “scuffle in an artillery unit during field firing.”
However, subsequent reports revealed that soldiers in the unit went out of control after senior officers severely assaulted one of their colleagues and their Commanding Officer.
