Kurnool Quarry Blast: Death Toll Of Odia Labourers Rises To 6

Hyderabad/Berhampur: The death toll of Odias killed in the granite quarry explosion in Andhra Pradesh rose to six with another labourer succumbing to his injuries on Sunday morning.

The labourer, identified as Rama Chandra Nahaka of Biti Nuagan village under Rambha police limits in Ganjam district, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of the day.He was initially admitted to a government hospital in Kurnool and later shifted to the King George Hospital on the advice of the doctors.

A day after the tragic incident on August 3, bodies of the three Odia labourers were recovered from the mishap site of which that of Duryodhan Nahaka and Manoranjan Nahaka of Bandhatala Nuagaon village under Rambha police limits were identified immediately while another was identified as Bhima Nahaka of J Radhagobinpur village in Ganjam district the following day.

Of the three seriously injured Odia labourers, Rajendra Nahaka of Diandein village under Rambha police limits in Ganjam district died on August 7 while Pandab Lenka of Biti Nuagan village under Rambha police limits breathed his last at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam on August 10.

Following the blast, the Odisha government had sent a two-member fact-finding team, comprising the District Labour Welfare Officer and the Rural Labour Inspector of Ganjam district, to Kurnool for an on-the-spot investigation.

Expressing profound grief at the tragic incident, the Andhra Pradesh government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased.

Three days after the tragic mishap, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on August 6 had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and free treatment to the injured labourers.

A  week after the incident, the Kurnool police Kurnool police had arrested five persons, including TDP leader and owner of quarry Srinibas Choudhury, and two Odias. Of the two arrested Odias, one was identified as Kailash Nahaka, a contractor from Rambha of Ganjam district.