Their first day at a work site proved fatal for two women labourers, who were killed in front of their children when a compound wall of an under-construction building collapsed on them at Valagerahalli in Jnana Bharathi Layout near Kengeri Satellite Town on Tuesday. Their children miraculously escaped.
The victims Rajamma (45) and Mangamma (25) hailed from Rayadurga in Andhra Pradesh.
Police said the incident occurred around 3 pm when they were clearing debris of a portion of the same wall that had collapsed the previous day due to rain.
The duo was taken by surprise when the remaining portion of the wall also collapsed, killing them on the spot even as their children, who were playing in stagnant water near the compound, ran away screaming.
The other workers who were working in same building, which belongs to Sri Sai Venkateshwara Developers, rushed to the spot and found them buried under a heap of mud.
“Rajamma and Mangamma were found dead when the Fire and Emergency Services personnel managed to clear the mud,” police said.
Rajamma, wife of Marappa, had four children aged between five and 12 years (Nagamma, Bhoomika, Thippesh and Maruthi) and Mangamma, wife of Basavaraju, had two children - a six-month-old baby and two-year-old daughter Pavithra. They were living in a shed near Ramasandra in Kengeri.
The mud wall was built as a temporary measure to resolve some issues the developers had with their neighbour. The wall was weak but was ignored by the contractor. The water that flowed from the neighbouring building used to accumulate beside the compound. The building owners and contractors did not take any precautions even though they were aware that the wall was vulnerable and left the women to work.
Mala, who lives in front of the building, told Express: “I was feeding my child on the terrace and suddenly, some children and workers of the building started screaming. I immediately checked and saw that women were buried under the compound wall. While the other workers struggled to clear the mud, I called the fire and emergency personnel, who rushed to the spot and removed the bodies. I was really shocked to see them killed in front of their children.”
The Kengeri police have registered a case of negligence against the building owner Balaji and contractor Bhaskar.