6 labourers electrocuted in Jharkhand's Dhanbad, PM Modi announces ₹2 lakh to kin of deceased

After six deaths were reported due to electrocution in Dhanbad, Jharkhand on Monday, PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh to the kin of the deceased.

Six labourers were electrocuted to death after an electric pole they were erecting fell on a high-tension overhead wire in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district on Monday, railway officials said.

Around eight people were working at the site without safety gear or switching off the election connection, claim eyewitnesses. (HT PHOTO)

Baghmara deputy superintendent of police Nisha Murmu said that the incident took place near Nichitpur railway station, around 145 km from Ranchi.

All of them were working with a contractor, who reportedly fled the spot after the incident, an official said.

Dhanbad divisional railway manager Kamal Kishore Sinha rushed to the spot after the incident.

Confirming the death of six workers in the incident, he said, "A probe into the incident has been initiated”.

Eyewitnesses claimed that eight people were working at the site without safety gear or switching off the election connection. The two who survived ran away in panic.

Five dead in the incident have been identified.

Train services on the grand chord line stopped at Dhanbad and Gomoh junctions after the incident. It was restored after an hour and a half, a railway official said.