PALANPUR: Nine labourers were buried alive when loose soil caved in on them at a construction site in Jasalpur village of Mehsana‘s Kadi taluka on Saturday.
The labourers were digging the ground for construction of an underground water tank at the factory site when the earth suddenly caved in, official sources said.
Mehsana superintendent of police Tarun Duggal confirme to TOI that nine people had died and one labourer survived.
“There was a heap of excavated mud which suddenly gave in and the labourers got buried,” Duggal said.
Sources said that the construction of a factory was going on since 2002.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PM National Relief Fund to the next kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to all those injured.
“The accident caused by the collapse of a wall in Mehsana, Gujarat, is extremely tragic. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May God give them the strength to endure this pain. I also pray for the speedy recovery of the injured. The local administration, under the supervision of the state government, is working tirelessly to provide all possible assistance to the victims,” the PM said on micro-blogging site X.