BENGALURU: Eight labourers sustained injuries, including one seriously, after a portion of the centring roof of an under-construction building collapsed on them at Whitefield early Sunday morning.
According to the police, the labourers were trapped under the debris for more than two hours and it was the Hoysala beat police, alerted about the incident, who called the NDRF personnel.
The workers were made to work during the night, which is illegal, apart from substandard material being used in construction, police said.
Tension prevailed for a while near the Accenture campus which is located nearby. The injured are Pradeep, Hiralal, Sushanth, Manthu, Badri, Jogesh, Baapi and Ghansham. They were rushed to a private hospital in Whitefield and the condition of Badri is said to be serious. They all are aged between 19 and 28 years and hail from Uttar Pradesh and other states. They were living in sheds nearby. The police said around 4.30 am, around 50 labourers were working in the first floor of the building on the site which belongs to Divyashree Constructions and Developers.
A senior police officer said after the roof collapsed, the management did not call the police station. Santosh, an engineer who was at the spot, did not bother to call the Fire and Emergency personnel. Two of the labourers were rescued by the police and NDRF personnel. The search operation was called off after confirming that there were no more labourers on the premise.
BBMP officials and senior police officers rushed to the spot and a case of negligence has been registered against the constructor and engineers with Whitefield police. The building also lacked any safety measures. After the incident, members of the Karnataka Republic Sene staged a protest demanding strict action against the builders who did not rush the injured to the hospital immediately. Soon after the incident, Venkatesh, the general manager, came to the spot and informed his seniors in Mumbai. The engineers, contractors and Venkatesh are all responsible for the mishap, the protesters said. Express tried to contact Divyashree Developers but they were not available for comment.