KORAPUT: At least two labourers died and another sustained critical injuries in a fatal mishap at a construction site of Nalco at Damanjodi in Odisha's Koraput district on Tuesday.
Police sources said that the mishap occurred when the labourers were busy in iron rod binding at the construction site as part of the aluminium company's ongoing expansion work.
Three labourers were carrying out the iron rod binding work when the rods fell on them. They were trapped under the heavy rods leading to the death of two on the spot. Fortunately, another group of other labourers who were working at a distance had survived.
"The two labourers had already succumbed to their injuries by the time the survived labourers could rescue them with the help of a crane. The injured labourer has been admitted in a hospital. His condition is stated to be critical," said the sources.
The deceased are Sama Rajashwi and Sanat Kunei and they were from Jharkhand. Though the exact cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, it was not immediately known whether the labourers had used safety guards while carrying out the work.
Sunabeda sub-divisional police officer Manobrata Satapathy confirmed the death of two labourers at the Nalco construction site. Investigation is on to ascertain the cause of mishap, she said.
A senior official of Nalco said, the deceased are contractual labourers deployed by Zetwerk, which has been engaged for the expansion work.
"Labourers engaged in construction works usually use all safety gears as per the protocol. We have to find out whether the protocol was followed properly and what is the cause of the mishap."
He further said that the deputy director of factories and boilers and project safety officials of Nalco are on the spot. The kin of the deceased will be compensated suitably, he added.