Amaravati: Relatives of the workers who have been buried alive on Saturday blamed absence of proper safety measures for the tragedy.
According to the grief-stricken relatives, all the nine workers were students, and were working during the summer holidays to earn extra income for their studies.
The workers were identified as B. Sunil, Seshu Babu, J. Prasanth, B. Rajesh, Bablu alias Babu, J. Sudha, M. Moshay, B. Solomon and V. Maria Babu. Maria Babu, who was pulled out alive from the soil, has been admitted to the Government General Hospital with severe injuries.
Their relatives alleged that the construction company did not take any safety measures and despite the soil being loose, dug 20 feet for basement.
They alleged that the 20 feet digging was the cause of soil heaps falling. The Minister for social welfare R. Kishore Babu, who reached the spot on hearing the news, faced an angry mob who stopped him and broke the windshield of his car. Police rushed to the spot and resorted to using their canes to control the situation.
Meanwhile, rescue operations were continuing with the help of floodlights. Deputy Chief Minister N. China Rajappa, who was on tour of West Godavari started for Guntur, cancelling his tour.
Minister for labour K. Atchhan Naidu announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of Seshu. Ministers P. Narayana and P. Pulla Rao expressed shock over the incident.
