PUNE: The death toll in Sunday’s drainage trench rescue operation in Phugewadi rose to 2. A labourer was found dead hours after the first death of a fire official.
Meanwhile, two firemen Saroj Kunde and Nikhil Ghorpade, who were rescued from the tragic site, recalled the traumatic incident, adding that bystanders were just watching and shooting videos on their phone cameras. Both the firemen are currently recovering in a nearby hospital.
The fire brigade and NDRF personnel recovered the body of a worker from the 25-foot deep trench that was dug up for laying a drainage pipeline. Six persons were trapped inside, including three firemen.
Kunde (32), a resident of Jadhavwadi, said, “When we entered inside to rescue the persons trapped, we successfully rescued one person. However, my colleague Nikhil and I got trapped for one hour under the soil mass.”
Ghorpade said while rescuing one of the labourers named Vishal, who was finding it difficult to breathe under the mass of soil, things started getting difficult as they were not able to move as they had also got trapped.
The death toll in the Dapodi trench rescue operation rose to two on Monday morning after Nagesh Jamadar (22), a labourer was found dead hours after the first death of a fire official on Sunday.
POLICE BOOK FIVE
The Bhosari police has booked five persons in the case under section 304(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A case was registered against MB Patil of Patil Construction & Infrastructure Limited, sub-contractor Ashok Pillay, sub-contractor Sunil Shinde, supervisor Dhananjay Sagat and officials of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
As per Bhosari police, a complaint was lodged by Kalyani Jamadar, father of deceased Nagesh Jamadar.
The police said the accused did not follow safety guidelines which caused the death of two persons.
Police Inspector Shankar Awtade of the Bhosari police station is investigating the case further.
