Jalandhar: Labourer buried in pit after soil caves in during highway construction, rescue operation on

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Jalandhar, August 13

A labourer fell into a pit during the ongoing construction of the Jammu-Katra highway at Kartarpur near Basrampur village here last night.

Stuck 60-70 feet deep in the earth, NDRF teams have been pressed into service to rescue the 40-year-old labourer, identified as Suresh Yadav.

A pit had been dug deep into the earth to erect the pillars of the upcoming highway, when a machine operating on the spot stopped working on Saturday night.

Two labourers were sent to inspect the machine and get it operational. During the process, the soil caved in on one of the labourers and he got stuck while the other came out in time.

Kartarpur MLA Balkar Singh, DC Vishesh Sarangal and the local tehsildar among other officials visited the spot.

The rescue ops are ongoing amidst heavy presence of police and NDRF teams.

SHO Kartarpur, Ramandeep Singh said, “The earth had been dug on the spot to erect one of the pillars for the highway. The labourer got stuck on the site when he had gone to fix one of the machines. The incident happened at about 8 pm last night. “

Sources said the rescue operations are expected to continue until this afternoon.