THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two migrant workers who were trapped inside the debris as the retaining concrete wall caved in at a construction site of an apartment near Panavila here on Saturday, were rescued by the Fire and Rescue Services team.The workers, identified as Deepak, 23 of West Bengal and Rahul, 30 of Assam, were rescued with the timely intervention of the Fire and Rescue Services team from Chenkalchoola fire station. Both of them were shifted to the medical college hospital.
Deepak was rescued immediately, while it took an hour to rescue Rahul as he was trapped under a concrete slab. Following the rain on Friday night, the land had turned soft and unstable. A major disaster was averted as a few workers who were present at the spot ran away.
The incident took place at 10.15am when a few workers were cooking food at a makeshift tent close to the construction site. A concrete foundation was laid on the ground and this land caved in. A resident said he heard a loud sound and when he rushed to the spot he found the land caved in. Soon, he informed the Fire and Rescue Services team.
A fire officer said that Rahul had some bruises on his legs and injuries on his face, legs and hands. Deepak’s injury is minor. “The entire piece of land, right from the top, started caving in. They did not have much time to run away. Within a flash, all of them were caught underneath the concrete block. The portion close to the spot is also on the verge of collapse. So the authorities should do something,” he said.
The district administration is likely to conduct an inquiry into the incident to check if the work was carried out with the permission of authorities concerned.