Nilgiris: Six women daily-wage labourers were killed at a construction site after earth caved in at Lovedale near Ooty on Wednesday.
A native of Kerala, who owned the property where a building was being constructed, has been taken into custody. Besides the owner Frijo Jacob Mathew, the contractor Prakash and supervisors Jaheer Ahmed and Anandraj have been arrested and booked under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence) and other related sections.
The deceased workers were identified as Shakeela, 30, B Bagyalakshmi, 40, S Sangeetha, 38 and S Radha, 38, natives of Mel Gandhi Nagar and S Muthulakshmi, 40 and V Uma, 35, both from Mel Thalaiyattimund. According to Ooty Police, six others including two women who were injured in the mishap were admitted to the Ooty Medical College Hospital.
The police said the workers were engaged in the construction of a retaining wall of a house under construction. According to eyewitnesses, a 25-feet embankment and a public toilet above it collapsed over the workers who were on a break.
“The toilet was at the edge of the embankment as the workers continued to excavate the soil below, resulting in the accident,” said a police officer. “There were no safety measures in place,” he said.
There were 12 workers on the site, it is understood. The rescue operation was initiated by people of the locality, and they were joined by the police and Fire & Rescue.
Demanding compensation and action against the land owner, the kith and kin of the deceased workers staged a sit-in in front of the Ooty Collectorate in the evening.
