Man dies after earth caves in while digging drainage trench

Chennai: A 50-year-old man died and another was injured when earth caved in on them while they were digging a trench for a drainage at Otteri on Friday afternoon.Kuppusamy and Marimuthu (45) were engaged in the work on Bristley Road in Otteri. They had been employed by a private firm under contract with the city corporation to renovate the drainage.

Police said Kuppusamy and Marimuthu were inside the eight -feet trench when earth caved in on them around 3 p.m. Marimuthu was brought out alive. Kuppusamy died by the time the other workers pulled him out.   

Otteri police removed the body to the Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem. He was the sole breadwinner of the family earning a meager Rs 450 per month, said a police officer. Marimuthu was also being treated in the same hospital and was out of danger. Both of them were working with the private company for the past six months.