SARGODHA: Six men working for a stone-crushing unit were buried alive near Chak 126-SB village, about 35km from here, on Wednesday.

According to sources, the labourers were drilling and blasting through a rock when a boulder fell upon them. By the night, rescuers and volunteers had managed to recover the bodies of all the men, identified as Falak Sher of Chak 107-SB, Muhammad Kamran, Shahid, Ijaz, Sher Muhammad and Abid.

Two other workers suffered injuries in the incident.

Deputy Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha expressed sorrow over the deaths and said an inquiry would be launched to determine if the owner of the unit and officials of the mines department had been negligent, as the incident apparently took place due to lack of precautionary measures.

A five-member committee had been formed to ascertain the causes of the incident, he added.

MPA Amer Sultan Cheema also expressed sadness over the incident and called for payment of compensation amounts and insurance cla­ims to the bereaved families.

He also underlined the need for taking proper steps to protect the people working in the stone-crushing industry.

Some hilly areas surrounding Sargodha are considered to be a hub of the stone-crushing industry. However, precautionary measures are rarely taken for the benefit of the people working in the industry. No compensation is paid to them if they meet with accidents.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2017