TIRUNELVELI: The three fatalities in the stone quarry mishap could have been avoided if workers’ concerns had been addressed, say the two survivors of the incident in Adaimithipankulam in Tirunelveli district. One person is yet to be found.
“Just about 20 days ago, a rock fell due to a landslide in the quarry. But when we informed the senior staff, we were simply told to return to work,” says M Murugan (31), a crane operator from Thoothukudi.
Murugan and the other survivor, J Vijayan (25), also a crane operator from Thoothukudi, are now at the Tirunelveli Government Superspeciality Hospital. Their health is stable.“There were not many people at the site at that time. If the mishap had occurred in the morning, many more people would have died,” says Murugan, who has been working in the quarry for four years. Vijayan, who’s been employed there for nearly seven years, points out all six people at the quarry at the time ended up being trapped.
“We loaded six lorries with stones, and when the seventh arrived and we were breaking rocks, a gigantic boulder fell from above,” Vijayan recalls. “We couldn’t see anything for a few minutes as the quarry was filled with dust. So I shouted out, and got a response from Murugan. Later, Selvan also shouted for help. He was trapped in a vehicle under the rock.”
Vijayan and Murugan, who weren’t trapped under the rocks, walked to each other, and called up the engineer for help. “The driver of the seventh lorry threw down some water to drink, and we gave some to Selvan too. We were stuck there till morning, and every movement of a stone gave us a scare,” he adds. S Selvan (25) died after being rescued from the quarry with Murugan and Vijayan on Sunday.
On being informed about the landslide, many of the workers’ relatives rushed to the quarry that night. Among them was M Bavani (27), Murugan’s wife.“I couldn’t contact my husband that night, and when his brother told me about the situation, I left from Nattarkulam by bike at midnight, leaving my three children, including an infant, with my mother-in-law,” Bavani recalls, adding she didn’t know how serious the situation was until she heard her husband’s cries. The survivors too sought aid from the government, saying the landslide has affected them both physically and psychologically.