3 workers die as granite boulder slips in quarry

Addanki: Three workers were killed in a mishap in a quarry of Srinivasa Granites, while loading the stone blocks into a transport vehicle at Eerlakonda in Ballikurava mandal on Tuesday evening.

According to workers, it is a regular practice to cut huge blocks of granite and stack them one on one before they are loaded into the transport carriers one by one.

To stop large boulders from slipping, small stones are used for against them. On Tuesday evening, the workers were loading a granite block with a crane onto a carrier.

In the process, a small stone under a boulder beside the loading block got crushed by the heavy weight and the boulder slipped onto the workers overseeing the loading process.

Three workers, Ramamurthy, of Kandukur, Palani and Ghouse from Chennai, were crushed to death by the boulder on the spot.

Crane operator and representatives of the management fled the spot without removing the bodies of the dead workers.

The other workers present at the quarry used an earth mover to shift the boulder to identify the victims. Owner of the Srinivasa Granites, Mukku Kasireddy, could not be reached.