Amaravati: As many as eight workers were buried alive under heaps of earth in an an under-construction commercial complex in Guntur city on Saturday evening. Two bodies were recovered and one person was pulled out alive. The mishap occurred at around 8 pm at the busy Lodge Centre in Lakshmipuram of Guntur city.
According to the reports, work on the basement for the cellar of the commercial complex, being built by Phoenix Construction near the Harihara Mahal cinema theatre was under progress since the past few days.
The builders had dug 20 feet for the basement, sources said. Labourers from Peda Godipadu village of Prattipadu mandal were involved in centring works, and laying the metal grid for the construction of pillars when tragedy struck.
According to sources, nine workers were on the spot and wanted to finish the task on hand so that they could take rest on Sunday.
At around 7 pm, a boulder slipped from the beneath the boundary wall of the commercial complex adjacent to the construction site. One of the labourers, Seshu, went to inspect the source of the sound but was trapped under the soil that was caving in rapidly. The other workers rushed to help him, but they too were trapped under the soil.
The locals immediately alerted police, revenue, fire departments and the Guntur Municipal Corporation.
