The building accommodating 150 migrant labourers for the past several years was in poor condition with the labour contractor claiming that he had raised the issue with the owner, but required steps were not taken to avert the tragedy.
In his complaint to the police, contractor Ramdev Mehto, who had deputed 70 workers in Shiv Shakti rice mill, said the labour quarters were constructed near the rice mill to ensure round-the-clock availability of labourers.
He said the building was quite old and water discharge from toilet and kitchen constructions opposite to the quarters was seeping into its foundation. “I had alerted mill owner Ramesh Gupta and his son repeatedly about it, but to no avail. If the building was repaired in time, this tragedy could have been avoided,” he added.
Mehto said Sanjay and Pankaj were married, while Avdesh and Chandan were unmarried and working in the rice mill for the past two to three years.
Survivors narrate ordeal
“It was around 3.25am when we heard a loud bang, which was followed by screams as my four roommates struggled to find a way out of the room they were trapped in,” said Randhir Kumar, who was among 150 labourers stuck in the three-storey labour quarters of the Karnal rice mill.
{{/usCountry}}“It was around 3.25am when we heard a loud bang, which was followed by screams as my four roommates struggled to find a way out of the room they were trapped in,” said Randhir Kumar, who was among 150 labourers stuck in the three-storey labour quarters of the Karnal rice mill.
{{/usCountry}}He said they had to break a small skylight to evacuate one by one and later came to know that at least 25 people who were sleeping in the verandah were buried under the rubble.
Badal, another migrant labourer who lost his friend Chandan in the incident, said, “We felt as if we will not survive. We did not know what happened until we came out of the room. Chandan had come to Taraori around five years ago and we used to work in rice mills together.”
Ramnandan Mahato, a migrant worker from Begusarai of Bihar, said he was sleeping on the second floor with his five roommates at the time of the incident. “We heard a loud sound and felt a jolt like an earthquake. Everyone was screaming and horrified,” he added. He said he was pulled out after cutting the bars of a ventilator.
“We stayed inside for about two hours. We came out of the debris with great difficulties,” said another labourer Golu.