15 labourers killed as huge stone caves in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Nov 14 (UNI) In a tragic incident 15 labourers were killed when a huge stone mass caved in near a small hillock at Rangitanger under Sukinda police station in Jajpur district today.

Sukinda police station officer in-charge Sriharsha Mishra told UNI over phone that the labourers, engaged by a local contractor to collect black metal used in road construction work, were trapped when the accident took place.

Mr Mishra said cranes were used to retrieve the bodies from the debris. Fifteen bodies had so far been recovered from the mishap site.

Usually the contractors used explosive materials to blast the rock and collect the black metal from the site, but the local police said the labourers were collecting the black metal from the foothill when a huge stone slab caved in suddenly and all of them were trapped in the landslide.

Mr Mishra said rescue operation was still on at the site adding that the total casualty figure would be known only after the entire debris was cleared.

It was not known as to how many labourers were present at the site when the mishap took place, he said.

UNI DP KK RN1925