Kochi: Two Odisha men crushed to death under concrete slab

KOCHI: Two Odisha natives died after a concrete slab fell on them while demolishing a two-storey house at Maradu in Kochi on Wednesday. The deceased are Sushant Kumar Naik, 37, son of Kantharu Naik in Badagada village, and Sankar Naik, 25, of Kusunagadia village, both in Ganjam district.

The incident took place around 11am when the house ‘Krishna Harsham’ located close to Petta-Kundannoor road was being demolished. The house was owned by Upendra Ram and wife Radha who recently sold it. As part of the property sale agreement, a contractor named Ansar of Nettoor was given the contract to demolish the old building. “I passed through this place while on the way to Tripunithura. I saw some police personnel running towards the compound of the house. I parked the bike and joined them. There were three workers at the place who told us that a concrete slab fell on two of their co-workers. Though we tried to lift the slab, it was too heavy. So, we stopped some tipper lorries to get the rope and lifting equipment. By the time, the Fire and Rescue Services unit arrived,” Shanvas Edavil, aka Navas, of Nettoor said.

Madhu Menon, another resident who took part in the rescue operation, said it took more than half an hour to remove the concrete slab and take out the duo. “There was hardly any space between the walls to lift the concrete slab. The rescue team reached the spot within 15 minutes. But the lifting of the concrete slab took some time. The other three workers are still under trauma following the incident,” he said.

A unit each of Fire and Rescue Services from Tripunithura and Gandhi Nagar reached the spot. “When we lifted the slab, both workers were buried under the debris  We lifted the slab using a hydraulic jack. Though they were rushed to the hospital, they were declared brought dead,” said Sambhu Namboothiri, assistant fire station officer, Tripunithura.

The bodies were later shifted to Ernakulam General Hospital for postmortem procedure. Contractor Ansar said that the deceased were daily wage employees. However, he will be taking the initiative to send the bodies to Odisha.

“We have informed their relatives. Once the postmortem examination is over, we will take measures to transport the bodies to their native places. Both were residing at Nettoor and they worked for various contractors,” Ansar said.

A case under CrPC 174 has been registered for unnatural death. There is no case against the contractor. The police sealed the house compound and started an investigation. A report from Fire and Rescue Services Department will be sought.