VELLORE: The nine Bengalis who died on Saturday after a nearby waste recycling tank collapsed had just returned from their home towns following a month-long vacation. The 14 Bengalis had come to Ranipet in search of jobs a year back and started working at the R K leather factory. Unfortunately, five among them would return as corpses to their natives.
Survivor Ameer Khan (21) of West Bengal translated the incident in Hindi to one of the police officials. He said, “We just returned from our vacation. I was doing the night shift, but my friends were sleeping in the room. I couldn’t help them and ran upstairs to save my life.”
Another survivor Ravi who was rescued by the Fire department works as a clerk at the leather factory. He said, “We were at work when the incident occurred. I saw the waste sludge coming into our factory, so I rushed upstairs. A worker at the factory also rushed upstairs along with me.”
At the time of the accident, nine of them were sleeping at the accommodation next to the factory and four were staying in another room in a nearby locality.