Three labourers killed in Virar after compound wall caves in

Three women labourers died and two others were injured after a newly constructed compound wall collapsed on them in Virar East. Police have booked the builder and contractor under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code.

Three women labourers died and two others – a man and a woman – suffered grievous injuries after a portion of a newly constructed compound wall collapsed on them in Virar East on Tuesday evening.

Three labourers killed in Virar after compound wall caves in

Police have booked the builder Chirag Doshi and his contractor Bharat Patel under section 304A (causing death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. No arrests have been made yet.

The incident occurred at Manvel Pada where 12 labourers had been working, without safety gears, on a building, Surya Kiran, for the last few months, police officers said.

After completion of the day’s work on Tuesday, the five labourers were washing their hands and legs in the ground water accumulated at the construction site when part of a newly constructed compound wall caved in on them, burying them beneath the debris, an officer from Virar police station said.

Other labourers who were nearby dialled the police control room. Around 6 pm, the fire brigade cleared the debris and rushed the five to a nearby hospital where three women were declared dead on arrival.

Police officers said the deceased had been identified as Sahubai Sule, 45, Lakshmi Bai Gawane, 40, and Radhabai Navghare, 40, and they hailed from Marathwada region. One of the two injured labourers, who are receiving treatment at the hospital, has been identified as Nandabai Gawhane, 32.

Rajendra Kamble, senior police inspector at Virar police station, said, “We are investigating the matter and will arrest the two for their failure to take precautions and provide safety gears to the labourers.”

The portion of the wall that collapsed was around 14 feet in height, a labourer said. “We were just going to wash our hands when we saw the wall came crashing and some labourers got trapped under the debris.”