Six workers killed due to blast in illegal quarry in Andhra Pradesh

Six daily wage earners working in an illegal quarry near Phirangipuram under Narsarao Assembly segment of Andhra Pradesh died on the spot on Saturday when huge boulders fell on them following a blast triggered on the top of a hillock.

According to the Phirangipuram Police, all the six workers belonged to Ibrahimpatnam of Krishna District, who ekes a living by loading boulders on trucks. The tragedy occurred as the blast was trigged by some workers without alerting the workers who were working down the hill.

China Balaswamy, Nageswara Rao, Rayappa, Durganjaneyulu, Sravan and Venkaiah were crushed under the boulders. Several others who were injured have been rushed to Guntur hospital.

Guntur District collector Kona Sasidhar, Superintendent of Police Narayan Naik rushed to the spot. Kin of the deceased workers held a dharna at the spot demanding compensation. They held the owners of the quarry responsible for the death of their kin. Local MLA of YSRC, Gopireddy Srinivasa Reddy demanded an exgratia of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the workers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu who was attending TDP Mahanadu in Visakhapatnam has asked cabinet ministers Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Prathipati Pullarao and MLA Sravan Kumar rush to Guntur. He asked the district administration to provide all required help to the affected families.