Two construction labourers die, one hurt as slab caves in

Rajkot: Two construction labourers died and one was injured after a slab, which they were trying to demolish, fell on them at Jivraj Park in the city on Thursday morning.
The workers — Raju Sagathiya (35), Shivanand Chauhan (24) and Suraj Sejariram (24) — were working on the fifth floor of the Blossom City building near Ambica Township around 10.30 am on Thursday. The contractor had assigned them the task to demolish the slab of the sixth floor. During the demolition work, the slabs of the sixth as well as fifth floor caved in. Sagathiya and Chauhan died on the spot while Sejariram suffered severe injuries.
Police said that the workers were not given any safety equipment nor were they trained to carry out such work. “As of now we have registered a case of accidental death. But if we find evidence an offence might be registered later,” said a police official. The contractor Prashant Pachani is absconding, cops said.
The renovation work of the building was going on for a month now, but Chauhan, a native of Bihar, and Sejariram, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, had joined the work on Wednesday.