News
One dead, two injured in underground tragedy
One worker was killed and two seriously injured when a mound of soil collapsed on them while they were working below ground on a drainage system at the Jayawadanagama Housing Scheme in Battaramulla last evening.
The victims were rescued and taken to the Sri Jayewardenepura hospital. One of them was in a critical condition and was transferred to the National Hospital. He later died there.
Jayewardenepura Hospital Director Dr. K. Gamage said one of the two victims being treated at the hospital was also in a critical condition.
The three victims together with three other workers were working for a private construction firm which has undertaken an underground drainage project for the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.
K. Nimal, one of the workers, said they weren’t provided with safety wear such as helmets. “When the tragedy occurred around 5.15 p.m., the victims were working twelve feet down. I heard them scream and ran to the place to find the ditch had become brimful of soil. We sought help from the security forces personnel in the nearby military camp,” he said.
Soldier Chathura Lanka said the three victims remained buried for a while but they struggled and managed to put their heads out of the pile of soil. But the rescue operation became difficult after a pipeline was ruptured by a backhoe that was used to remove the soil.
With the ditch being filled with water, the security forces personnel took nearly three hours to rescue the victims.
Kaduwela Municipal Council member Ranjith Perera who also joined the rescue work, said accidents such as this could have been avoided if construction companies had provided safety gear to their workers.
Follow @timesonlinelk
Related Posts:
‘Vedi Pitiya’ – where villagers fear to treadAn explosive device that blew up and killed two persons and seriously injured three last week on Kandakuli Beach is ...
Dengue claims 83 lives; Health Ministry gets ready to battle it with BTIA total of 83 deaths has been recorded due to dengue for this year alone, a Ministry of Health spokesman ...
Demining workers injured in blastThree local workers involved in demining programme were critically injured when a grenade exploded while they were clearing mines in ...
Woman severely burnt in lover’s acid attackA 26-year-old woman was seriously burnt and scarred after her jilted lover allegedly launched a vicious acid attack that also ...
47 school children dead in Egypt train-bus tragedyCAIRO, Nov 17 (AFP) -Forty-seven nursery school children were killed yesterday when a train ploughed into their bus in the ...