RAIPUR: Two labourers died and six were grievously injured when a high-rise iron-casting structure collapsed at a construction site in Raipur Saturday. Two of the injured were in critical condition.
The accident came just two days after a silo collapsed at a smelting plant in Mungeli district. The bodies of an engineer and two more workers were recovered on Saturday from the debris of the silo after a 40-hour rescue operation, taking the death toll in the tragedy to four.
Raipur collector Gaurav Singh said the accident occurred at the construction site for a residential complex on VIP Road. Ten labourers had climbed the iron scaffolding around noon to complete the eighth floor's casting and shuttering work. A few labourers were standing at the bottom of the structure when it suddenly came crashing down around 2.30pm.
Other workers immediately launched a rescue operation. Police and emergency services also joined in. Raipur collector, SP Lal Umed Singh, municipal commissioner and additional SP also rushed to the spot.
Eight injured labourers were rescued and rushed to hospital, where one was declared dead on arrival and another died during treatment. One of the deceased was identified as Rehmat Khan.
Around 400-500 labourers - most of them migrants - have been working and living at the site.
Witnesses said they heard a loud rumbling noise, 'like an earthquake', and looked up to see the iron structure collapsing.
Workers standing on it tumbled down, and the whole structure slammed into those standing underneath.
Two labourers atop the structure had a narrow escape as they grabbed the building and clung to it.
There was little chance of anyone else being buried, but the debris was being cleared on a war footing, collector Singh said.
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