Kasaragod: Three labourers were buried up to the neck after a five-metre roadside embankment collapsed on them while building a retaining wall at Cheruvathur on Tuesday. They were rescued after a two-and-a-half-hour operation involving residents and personnel from two Fire and Rescue stations.

The collapse, triggered by heavy rain, occurred around noon when the workers were excavating earth nearly five metres below road level to construct the retaining wall for a new house. A section of the roadside embankment suddenly gave way, sending earth and laterite stones crashing onto the workers, trapping them beneath the debris. 

"Luckily, the stones did not fall on the workers," said a rescue officer from Trikaripur Fire Station.

Residents rushed to the site and began digging with their hands before rescue teams and an excavator arrived. Seven personnel from the Trikaripur Fire and Rescue Station and five from the Cheemeni Fire and Rescue Station joined the rescue effort.

"We received the call at around 12.25 pm. By the time we reached, residents had already started removing the soil. We continued the rescue operation until about 2 pm and managed to bring all three workers out," a Fire and Rescue Services officer said.

The workers, Ashokan (60), Ashokan (55) and Vijesh (45), suffered only minor leg injuries and were shifted to hospital.