2 Migrant Labourers Working at Brick Kiln Died Suffering from Food Poisoning

Karimnagar: Two migrant labourers from Odisha working in a brick kiln at Peddapalli district died after suffering from food poisoning while undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.

They were among the 19 persons, including children, who suffered food poisoning at the MSR kiln at Goureddypet village in Peddapalli district. The kiln owners had threatened them against reporting the incident and had them treated at a local hospital at Peddapalli, police said

When the condition of about 14 persons worsened, they were shifted to the government civil hospital at Karimnagar. Among them, Chandrasekhar Barahi, 54, died on Friday and Lalitha Majilu, 29, succumbed at about 4 am on Saturday. The condition of four others was stated to be serious. One of them, Indravathi, was shifted to a hospital at Hyderabad for better treatment.

Peddapalli circle inspector Krishna said that hospital officials reported the incident to the police who registered a complaint and began investigations against the kiln owners.

Police said that on Tuesday night, the workers had purchased chicken from a shop at Peddapalli. It is being suspected that they also picked up rotten chicken that was discarded and consumed it.

In another incident, three migrant labourers working at another brick kiln at Kasaram in Ramagiri mandal lodged a complaint with the police that they had been beaten up by the kiln owners.

Following the two incidents, district assistant labour commissioner Koteshwarlu issued orders for an inquiry into the well-being of workers at the brick kilns. When some of the workers requested the officials that they be sent back home, the labour department asked the kiln owners to facilitate their travel.