Palanpur (Gujarat), Feb 9: Three women labourers and a toddler were crushed to death when a dumper truck carrying sand overturned and fell on them in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred at Khengarpura village in the district on Saturday evening when a group of labourers was engaged in road construction work, they said.
The dumper tried to make its way through a narrow passage and overturned, falling on three women engaged in the road construction work, Deputy Superintendent of Police SM Varotariya said.
A child belonging to a labourer’s family also died in the incident, he said.
“The labourers were engaged in digging soil for the construction of a wall on the side of the road when the truck filled with sand tried to negligently navigate through the narrow turn. The driver lost control over the truck, and it fell on the three women who were working and a child who was playing there,” he said.
It took nearly two hours to pull out the women and the child trapped under the truck with the help of cranes and bulldozers, officials said.
The four persons were then rushed to a government hospital where they were declared dead, the officials said.
Nearly 10 labourers were engaged at the site where the accident occurred, Tharad police inspector RR Rathwa said.
The dumper driver was detained and the process of registering an FIR against him was underway, he added.
Jaideep Trivedi, medical officer at the government hospital in Tharad, said four persons were brought dead to the hospital.
The police were informed and the bodies were shifted for post-mortem, he said.
The deceased have been identified as Renukaben Ganawa (24), Sonalben Ninama (22), Ilaben Bhabhor (40) and Rudra (2), according to officials. (PTI)
