Falling rocks kill three labourers in Madurai quarry

The incident happened around 8 am, when a group of four labourers were working on top of the stone quarry at a height of around 60 feet. 

A portion of the rock on which they were working suddenly gave way and all the four fell down. Even before they could move away, some boulders fell on them. While one worker was killed on the spot, the other three were rushed to the Vadipatti government hospital. However, two more workers succumbed to injuries at the hospital. 

The deceased were identified as Paramasivam (45), Nagaraj (54) and Krishnan (45). The fourth labourer, Srinivasan (48), is battling for life at the hospital.

Following the incident, residents of Puchampatti staged a road roko in front of Vadipatti bus stand demanding the closure of all the stone quarries. They also wanted Srinivasan to be shifted to a private hospital for better treatment.  

Officials from Revenue and police department held talks and pacified the protesters. However, the latter relented only after the Sholvandhan MLA, who visited the spot, assured that Srinivasan would be shifted immediately to a private hospital and that he would bear the treatment expenses. 

Later in the afternoon, Revenue Minister, R B Udhayakumar and Madurai Collector, K Veera Raghava Rao, visited Vadipatti GH and consoled the kin of the deceased. 

“Revenue officials will inspect the quarries and if there is any violation, they will be closed down,” the minister said, adding that compensation would be disbursed to families of those killed.