COIMBATORE: Two labourers, who were involved in the construction of underground sewers were killed here on Tuesday after a heap of mud fell on them. Ramesh (22) was trying to climb up to get out of the 10-foot pit when mud on the sides accidentally fell on him. He died of suffocation. Locals said three co-workers - Gokul, Rajkumar and Annadurai - also slipped into the pit and got buried when they attempted to rescue Ramesh. The incident took place around 4.40 pm on third street of Venketashwara Nagar at Kavumdampalayam.It took nearly an hour for the fire and rescue service personnel to pull out the four as the pit was narrow. However, Gokul and Rajkumar died soon after they were admitted to a nearby hospital. “We had finished laying the pipes in the pit and I was trying to climb up when suddenly the mud fell on me. My friends jumped in to save me and we all got struck,” said Ramesh, who is undergoing treatment in the hospital.The earthmover operator noticed the incident first and alerted the fire and rescue services. “It was a horrible sight. All we could see was a hand of one of the youth protruding out. Though we removed the mud on the sides, the pit was too narrow that no machine could not be pushed inside and we had to remove the mud manually only. This delayed our operation,” said one of the fire service personnel, who was first to reach the spot.All the four hailed from Ethapur village in Salem district and were involved in the work for the last one week. Compensation to the victims remained a question mark as an executive engineer of the corporation, who had come to visit the surviving labourers, said it was up to the contractors to pay relief to them.
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