CHENNAI: A 37-year-old contract worker with the Metro Water was buried alive in a pit dug for underground sewage work at Tiruvottiyur on Saturday after the soil caved in when he was working. The deceased was identified as Bhoominathan, a native of Tiruvannamalai. He was among four workers engaged in digging the pit at Gramam Street.

Bhoominathan was inside the pit, removing soil when the earth on one side suddenly caved in and buried him. The incident happened around 4 am. 

Other workers alerted the authorities and began removing the soil until the personnel from Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) reached the scene and recovered his body after a two-and-a-half-hour operation. He had died by the time rescuers reached him, police said. The body was sent to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem.

Police questioned the other workers involved in the digging work. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the work was being carried out for four houses in the locality. Police have registered a case under Section 105 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and relevant provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. 

Tiruvottiyur Police have booked two contractors in connection with the incident.