Kerala - Kochi   

Worker killed in quarry accident

Photo: Vipinchandran

Landslip debris: The stone quarry at Oorakkad in Kizhakkambalam panchayat, 25 km from Kochi, where a worker was crushed to death in an accident on Friday. —

KOCHI: Four weeks after five stone quarry workers lost their lives in a similar accident, a 44-year-old man was crushed to death in a landslip at a quarry at Oorakkad in Kizhakkambalam panchayat, some 25 km from the city, on Friday.

Thankachan K.S., son of Kudilippurath Zacharia of Vadattupara, near Kothamangalam, died instantaneously when a huge block of rock slipped off the hillock on the edge of the quarry and rolled down into the midst of a group of workers at around 10.30 a.m. Thankachan is survived by his wife Mary and three sons. Three other workers were also injured, though not seriously, and were hospitalised.

The quarry, along with a stone crusher, is owned by G.K. Granite. Though local authorities and some workers said no one else was trapped under the landslip debris, local residents insisted that more workers could be buried under the huge mass of rock and hence search was still on late into the afternoon. The boulders were being removed using earthmovers and rock-cutters.

The local residents said it was they who had found Thankachan crushed under the rock. This was despite the company officials’ initial claim that no one had died and that no more worker was trapped. The company had prevented them from entering the quarry and helping with the rescue operations. The angry mob smashed the office windows and furniture and the supervisors of the quarry had fled. The owner of the quarry had gone incommunicado and hence there were no company authorities to guide the local people and authorities in the rescue operations. The large quarry, which sometimes employs scores of people in different hazardous tasks, lacked even minimum emergency procedures. Apparently, no security precautions were in place.

The accident comes a fortnight after district authorities had lifted the ban on quarrying in Kunnathunad taluk in which Kizhakkambalam falls. The ban was imposed following the December 22 quarry accident at Mannur near Irapuram in the same taluk. The Mannur quarry is hardly 10 km from the Oorakkad quarry. The ban was lifted following a flash strike by the quarries and crushers in the district and at the intervention of Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem.

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