Body of one of the two trapped workers spotted after 11 days

After 10 days of rescue operation, the body of one of the two earth moving machine operators, who were trapped under a heap of boulders was spotted at Bariput quarry in Odisha's Koraput district today.

The fate of the other worker is yet to be known, officials said.

The body found from the site, located under the jurisdiction of Bisingpur police station, is yet to be identified.

It has decomposed since it was buried for the last 11 days, the officials said.

"We have called the family members of both the trapped operators to identify the body. Efforts are on to spot the other trapped operator," the District Collector of Koraput, K Sudarshan Chakravarthy, said.

Controlled blasting, for at least 10 times, under direct supervision of a team of Indian Army's engineering wing, were carried out in past three days, to remove the heap of boulders in an effort to rescue the trapped workers, an official said.

"If required more blasting could be done," the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Koraput, V R Rao, said.

Blasting was carried out after all efforts to remove the huge boulders failed, officials said.

The Congress' MLA from Jeypore, Tara Prasad Bahinipati, has demanded stringent action against officials concerned for allowing the stone quarry to function.

"The quarry lies hardly 500 meters away from the dam of Telangiri irrigation project and blasting at the quarry could damage the dam's structure," said Bahinipati.

"I had urged the administration to stop the quarry at Bariput and it was closed down. However, in what circumstances it was reopened is to be enquired," Bahinipati added.

Both the workers were trapped under a heap of boulders along with their earth moving machines on May 31 evening when the two were working with earth movers at a government project in Bariput village, and the rain soaked earth caved in trapping them under a mound of boulders.

The two workers, operators of earth moving machines, were identified as Ghanashyam Guru of Deogarh district and Sanjay Das of Athagarh in Cuttack district.