Bengaluru: Seven workers were killed and five others injured after a massive boulder crashed onto them at a quarry in the outskirts of Bengaluru Thursday.The accident occurred around 7 am at Udayashankar Stone Crushers in Madapattana, Ramanagara district.At adjoining Basaveshwara Stone Crushers, located at a higher level, rocks were being crushed and readied for transport, when a boulder broke loose, rolled down about 40 feet and crashed onto a group of 16 workers – mostly migrants – below.Those dead have been identified as Ramu Poojari, 28, of Yadgir in Karnataka; Rajpal Singh, 35, Satyanarayana Singh, 31, Ramavatar Singh, 31, Bhuvaneshwar Singh, 38, Rajesh Prasad Choudhary, 28, all from Madhya Pradesh; and Dharmesh Singh from Chhattisgarh.The injured are Chotu Lal, Rajpal Singh, and Gulab Singh, all from MP; Nehal Singh from Chhattisgarh, and M Anand from Tavarakere, Karnataka. They were moved to Rajarajeshwari Hospital on Mysuru Road.Police filed an FIR against D Anandaswamy, the owner of Basaveshwara Stone Crushers, S R Udayshankar, the owner of Udayshankar Stone Crushers, and Tirupati, the driver of an earthmover. While Tirupati is in police custody, search is on for the other two accused.Rangappa S, the director of the department of mines and geology, told TOI mandatory safety protocols for post-blasting operations were not followed. Officials in the mines and geology department also said rocks had come loose during blasting, two months ago.Following the incident, quarrying has been suspended at 54 sites in the area.Seeking a detailed report on the incident, chief minister D K Shivakumar assured action against those responsible. He also said the govt would introduce new quarry plans and issue safety guidelines to prevent such accidents in the future.Reacting to the incident, deputy CM G Parameshwara said: “There are many illegal quarries active across the state. We will act against those.”Families of those killed will receive Rs 10 lakh each, while each injured will get Rs 5 lakh in compensation from the quarry owners, who will also bear the medical expenses of the injured, officials said.T Gopikrishnan, 25, one of the 16 workers who survived, said they initially heard a loud rumbling noise. Before anyone could move, the boulders came crashing on them.“We managed to escape at the very last moment. Seven of our co-workers were crushed before our eyes. We were helpless. No one had warned us that boulders at the quarry above were being moved,” Gopikrishnan added.Ramu’s mother, who rushed to the spot, said: “We had come to this quarry for promised daily wages of around Rs 800. Now, my son is dead. Who will look after our family?” Ramu’s son said he was the one who pulled his father’s body stuck under a boulder.Another survivor, Vinod Kumar, who was operating an earthmover near the accident site, said he escaped death by a whisker. “I was at that very spot just a few seconds before the incident. As I drove away, I heard a loud thud, followed by screams,” Kumar said.ADGP (law and order) R Hitendra said the crushers had a licence, but there were many lapses on the operations part. “A spot inspection revealed there was carelessness on the part of the owners and the others concerned at the two quarries,” he added.MLA S T Somashekhar from Yeshwanthapura constituency said besides the quarry owners, managers, govt officials, police personnel and those responsible at the mines and geology and forest departments should also be booked for negligence.Points for gfx:Rs 10L COMPENSATION* Officials said mandatory post-blasting safety protocols ignored* Operations suspended at 54 quarries in the area pending further probe* CM D K Shivakumar orders detailed probe, promises stricter quarry safety norms* Families of the deceased to receive Rs 10 lakh each; injured will get Rs 5 lakh each from quarry owners* Medical expenses to be borne by quarry owners
