PUDUKKOTTAI: Two persons were killed when explosives used to blast rocks at a quarry in Muththudayaanpatti went off on Thursday. The mother of one of the victims died of shock on Friday.
According to police, on Wednesday, explosives were set to break down rocks at the quarry owned by one R Muthuswamy.
It was said that some of the explosives did not blow up. On Thursday, when a team of labourers including supervisor Arumugam (50) and a labourer Palanivel (60) were checking them, one of the explosives went off killing Arumugam on the spot. Four other seriously injured including Palanivel (60) were taken to hospital, where Palanivel succumbed on Friday. The injured have been identified as Shanmugam (34), Ganeshan (40) and Srinivasan (33).
On Friday morning, Arumugam’s mother Theerthayee Ammal died at her residence in Muththudayaanpatti when she was mourning the loss of her son.
A social activist based in Pudukkottai V N Thinakaran said, “In quarries, the workers aren’t properly trained and are given no safety equipment like helmets, boots and protective vests as such things cost a lot of time and money. They directly deploy the workers in the dangerous work environment.”
“The same is the case with this [Muththudayaanpatti] quarry as well. It is high time that all the quarries in Pudukkottai are inspected like it was done in Madurai,” he added.