The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Eerie silence prevails at crash site

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 17, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Eerie silence prevails at crash site

B. Madhu Gopal

Steel plant management announces compensation

Police struggle to keep surging crowds at bay
The temple was opened in April 2002

VISAKHAPATNAM: An eerie silence prevailed at the slab collapse site at Ukkunagaram on Friday. The sprawling complex at Shirdi Saibaba temple and its precincts echoed with the wails of relatives of the on Thursday night after three construction workers died and 16 others injured when a freshly laid extension slab at the temple collapsed around 4.30 p.m.

The body of G. Durgamma, 23, was the last one to be retrieved from under the rubble around 1.45 a.m. on Friday. The body of R. Nookaraju, 23, was the first to be retrieved around 7.30 p.m. on Thursday and the body of T. Durga, 19, was extricated a couple of hours later. Even as rescue workers cut the thick iron rods with gas cutters and removed loads of wet concrete of the fallen slab, the relatives wailed inconsolably. Residents of the township brought coffee in flasks and served them to the relatives. They had no words to console them and had to do a lot of cajoling to make them take a few sips.

There were hardly any devotees at the temple when the incident occurred. “Had it occurred an hour later, the casualties would have been much higher. As it was Thursday, many employees go to the temple after returning home from their office,” said an employee of VSP.

All the roads around the vast temple complex were lined with vehicles of all kinds, motorcycles, scooters and cars. Residents of the township rushed to the area on hearing the news. Police took steps to keep the surging crowds at bay. Police Commissioner N. Sambasiva Rao, Deputy Commissioners K.V.V. Gopala Rao (Law and Order) and P. Viswa Prasad (Traffic), CISF (VSP) Commandant Chella Dorai, Officials of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and the Fire Department supervised the relief operations.

Helping hands

A 36-member team of the National Disaster Response Force that came to the city to undertake emergency rescue operations in view of cyclone threat were seen assisting the local officials and staff in the retrieval of the bodies. “When the siren was sounded I was at the HPCL guest house. I immediately alerted my boys and we rushed with a beacon light and other equipment to assist the local officials in the relief operations”, said CISF Deputy Commandant Zuo from Arakonnam, who heads the NDRF team.

The consecration of the temple was done on April 20, 2002. The temple trust has taken expansion work as part of which the slab was being laid.

Meanwhile, trade unions blamed the VSP management for failing to taking adequate precautions when a work of such magnitude was taken up. The slab of the Ukkunagaram Gana Sabha, under construction, collapsed killed nine workers on November 3 last year.

Meanwhile, the VSP management announced a compensation of Rs. 2.5 lakhs each to the kin of the dead, Rs. 1 lakh each for the grievously injured and Rs. 25,000 for those who sustained minor injuries.

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