One killed, 3 workers trapped in 300-foot-deep quarry

Giant boulder crashed into a private quarry pit at Adaimithippaankulam near Tirunelveli

An earthmover operator, Selvam, 25, died hours after being rescued from a 300-foot-deep stone quarry at Adaimithippaankulam in Tirunelveli district on Sunday evening, even as three workers remained trapped since Saturday night.

Six workers were trapped after a giant boulder from the loose soil rolled down the private quarry pit in the Munneerpallam police station limits. Two of them were rescued with minor injuries on Sunday.

At the time of filing this report, a 30-member team from the National Disaster Response Force, Arakkonam, was on its way to the site by road to join the rescue efforts.

Earlier, the police and fire and rescue services personnel rescued J. Vijay, 27, of Naattaarkulam, and Murugan, 27, of Valluvar Colony at Vittilaapuram in Thoothukudi district, and rushed them to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.

The earthmover operator, Selvam of Ilaiyaarkulam in Tirunelveli, who was rescued after 18 hours following a daredevil operation in the midst of falling stones, succumbed to injuries at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital.

The police said lorry drivers M. Selvakumar, 30, of Kaakkulam, and P. Rajendran, 35, of Oorudaiyarkudiyiruppu, and lorry cleaner P. Murugan, 23, of Vadakkankulam, covered under a heap of sand and stones along with their vehicles, were remained trapped.