Six labourers killed in Bareilly

Six labourers were killed and two others injured here when a mound of earth they had dug out for laying a 4G cable line collapsed on them, police said today.

The labourers, working for a Mohali-based private firm on Pilibhit Bypass Road, had dug a 15-feet-deep trench. They were preparing to lay the cable on Monday night when the mound of earth slipped and fell on them, said a police official.

District Magistrate Virendra Kumar Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. An FIR has also been registered. Works supervisor Dheer Singh and drill machine operator Anshul have been arrested.

The deceased were identified as Habu (40), Mohirum (20), Nazimul (22), Nazeem (25), Kausar (25) and Hasan (30), all are from West Bengal, the DM said.

Locals, Nagar Nigam and Civil Defence officials jointly handled the rescue operations. The workers were trapped for hours before they could be pulled out. Five of the workers died before they could be pulled out of the debris. Another worker succumbed in the hospital,a police official said.

Two others were undergoing treatment at a hospital, the official said.