PUDUKKOTTAI: A 19-year-old heavy machinery operator was buried alive in a landslip that occurred in a private stone quarry at Rakkathanpatti in Keeranur panchayat of the district early on Sunday. His body was recovered from the site after an eight-hour-long operation.
The Udaiyalippatti police have registered a case. The deceased has been identified as K Laxmanan of Kudimiyanmalai. According to sources, Laxmanan was operating the machinery at the quarry, which has been functional since 2021, around 7 am on Sunday when the landslip occurred.
The fire and rescue services personnel were informed around 8.45 am following which teams arrived by 9.15 am. District Fire Officer E Banupriya told TNIE, "A team of 15 fire and rescue services personnel from Keeranur fire station and 10 from SIPCOT, Gandharvakkottai, undertook rescue operations the whole day. By mid-day, we could recover half of the torso.
The lower portion of the torso was crushed and we had to take time to carefully extricate it from the vehicle. By 5 pm the body was sent to Government Medical College Hospital in Pudukkottai for post-mortem." Pointing to the possibility of the landslip having occurred from the recent rains, she further said, “The challenge in rescue operations was that the entire pathway was inaccessible due to the landslip.
The more we cleared the sand the more it fell at the same spot; so we had to clear it slowly. The machinery’s crew cabin was crushed and it went under the sand. We used gas welding to cut open its door." Meanwhile, Laxmanan’s relatives staged a protest at the quarry demanding compensation for his family. Following assurances from officials, the protesters dispersed.