HYDERABAD, India, 14 April 2008 — Eight laborers, including seven women were buried alive and five others sustained injuries in a landslip in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday evening. According to police. the tragedy occurred on the outskirts of Thakkalapalli village in Kaithlapur mandal when 39 laborers were removing soil from a floodwater channel to use it for strengthening Uthkamma tank dike in the area.
The laborers, who were using heavy equipment, had no time to escape when the earth from a 50-feet-high mound caved in. Villagers rushed to the spot to pull out some of the trapped laborers from under tons of mud and earth.
Revenue and police personnel also joined in the rescue operations.
Eight bodies were retrieved after a three-hour operation. Five injured people were shifted to the government hospital at Korutla. The relatives of the dead — a man and seven women — alleged that adequate safety measures were not taken during the digging operation.
