One killed, 2 injured after boulder falls on them at railway tunnel in N Bengal
Stone-cutting work was going on inside tunnel No 10 when the boulder fell on the excavator machine that the deceased was operating
In a tragic incident, a labourer was killed while two others were injured on Monday when a boulder fell on workers inside an under-construction tunnel of the Sevoke-Rangpo railway project in north Bengal’s Kalimpong district, officials said.
The accident happened at Bhalukhola, around 20 km from Rangpo town at the Bengal-Sikkim border.
According to district officials, the deceased was identified, a 22-year-old a resident of Ghoksadanga in Cooch Behar district.
Also Read:Am unhurt, says Bihar governor Arlekar after fire engine in convoy overturns
The injured workers were also identified and are undergoing treatment.
“Stone-cutting work was going on inside tunnel No 10 when the boulder fell on the excavator machine that the deceased was operating. He was taken to a hospital in Rambi where doctors declared him dead. The injured are admitted in hospital,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
Tunnel No 10 is 5.3km long. It is the longest among the 14 tunnels that form a part of the railway project which aims to place Sikkim on the country’s railway map for the first time.
The project began in 2009 when West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was the union railway minister.
It is scheduled to be completed by December 2024.
“Around 10 construction workers have died since the construction started,” said M Singh, project director of IRCON International Ltd, a government of India undertaking under the railways ministry which is building the railway link.