Kaleswaram Project Tunnel Collapses, 7 Labourers Crushed To Death

In a ghastly incident, seven persons, all dailywagers, were crushed to death as the Kaleswaram irrigation project tunnel collapsed near Tippapur in the Illantakunta mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district on Wednesday afternoon. The six bodies were badly mangled and are beyond recognition. Two other persons, who suffered critical injuries, have been rushed to Pratima Hospital in Karimnagar. Their condition is stated to be serious.

According to sources, the contractor wanted to complete the tunnel digging work within two days and has asked the workers to work overtime. They were using a boomer to break the boulders. Suddenly, an air block developed in the boomer and the stones fell down on the workers. All the six persons working there were crushed to death.

The operator and the cleaner of the boomer too were hit by boulders and suffered critical injuries. The deceased have been identified as Sandip, Jitender, Haricharan, Hariram, Gowtham and Hari. One person is yet to be identified. Except Sandip, who is from Mulugu, the other workers were from Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

SP Vishwajit, who is monitoring the rescue operations, said the bodies were unrecognised. Further details are awaited.