Eight labourers die as factory wall collapses in Himachal Pradesh

POANTA - A factory wall collapsed in Poanta area of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur District and left eight labourers killed.

All labourers were asleep when the incident took place in the wee hours of Friday.

Most of the labourers belonged to Uttar Pradesh.

According to preliminary investigations, the wall collapsed due to heavy load of limestone stored along it.

Brijesh, a labourer, who was among the first persons to reach the incident site, recalled the incident and said: “They were sleeping. I came around 1 a.m. and saw that everything was fine and left for work, and I worked till 2 a.m. When I came here at 2 a.m to make tea, then I saw that the wall had collapsed.”

The district administration has announced a compensation of Rs. 100,000 to the kin of the dead.

“The administration has sanctioned Rs. 100,000 for the members of the deceased’s families, and we are giving initial relief of Rs 5,000 to the family members of deceased. Police is investigating the causes of this accident,” said Manmohan Sharma, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Poanta.

All eight bodies have been recovered and identified. They have been sent for post-mortem to Poanta Medical Hospital.

The government has ordered a magisterial inquiry while police have registered a case. (ANI)