Six labourers rescued after soil collapses on them in pit in Samba

Samba/Jammu, Sep 26 (PTI) Six labourers were rescued on Thursday after a heap of soil collapsed on them while they were working in a pit dug for the construction of a bridge in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Two of the labourers were critically injured in the incident, which took place in the Vijaypur area, they said.

The six labourers were involved in construction work on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway. They were working in a deep pit dug for the construction of a bridge over the Devak river when a heap of soil collapsed on them, leaving them trapped, the officials said.

After receiving information about the incident, the district administration, along with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), launched a rescue operation, they said.

After two hours of intense efforts, four labourers were pulled out from the soil. Heavy machinery was deployed to rescue the remaining two labourers, they added.

District Commissioner Rajesh Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Samba, Vinay Kumar Sharma were present at the site, overseeing the rescue operation.

According to the officials, four of the labourers are stated to be stable while two were critically injured and taken to a hospital in Jammu for treatment.