ISLAMABAD: Two labourers were killed and four others injured in a mudslide while laying the foundation of an underpass at the metro bus route in G-9 sector on Tuesday.

Dr Waseem Khawaja, the spokesperson for Pims, told Dawn that six injured labourers were brought to the hospital where two of them, identified as Mohammad Saleem and Mohammad Dilshad, both aged 24 years, were pronounced dead. He said Shahzad, 26, Hashim, 25, Samiullah, 27, and Zahid, 35, were kept under observation but they were out of danger.

Nasir Mehmood, a supervisor of the metro bus project, said it seemed the piece of land that fell on the labourers had been filled at the time of the construction of the 9th Avenue.

“During rains last week, the piece of land had started sinking in the same area but the labourers removed the affected piece and restarted the work. It seems another crack developed on Tuesday and the land fell on the labourers.”

Incident occurred while laying foundation of a metro bus underpass

He said precautionary measures had been taken but such incidents cannot be avoided.

Jabir Khan, who also works at the site, said during Ramazan a labourer fell in a pond near the same place and died.

“Now labourers are scared and they are hesitant to work at the place which is almost 40 feet deep,” he said.

Commissioner Rawalpindi division Zahid Saeed, who is also the director of the metro bus project, told Dawn that the construction work was being carried out by different companies.

“The NLC is the main contractor and sub-contract of the portion where the incident occurred has been given to another company. The National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) is also involved in the project so there are less chances of negligence.”

He, however, said an inquiry would be held into the incident.

Moreover, he added, the companies had been instructed to pay compensation to the families of the deceased labourers.

In reply to a question, Mr Saeed said one of the deceased labourers belonged to Pakpattan and the other was from Rahim Yar Khan.

“I tried to send the body to Rahim Yar Khan by air but there was no flight on Tuesday so it has been decided to send both the bodies in ambulances.”

Mohammad Fayyaz Zaeem, the owner of the construction company working at the G-9 section of the metro bus project, told Dawn that the NLC had announced a compensation of Rs500,000 each for the families of the deceased labourers and his firm would also pay them an equal amount.

“It was just an accident and there was no negligence,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2014