4 crushed to death under rice sacks

Four labourers were buried alive under stacks of rice sacks which fell on them while they were sleeping inside a godown in the capital, police said on Friday.

The incident occurred Thursday night in west Delhi’s Alipur area and came to light on Friday morning when some other labourers found their associates dead under the weight of the sacks. All the victims — identified as Pawan, 37, Santosh, 24, Lal Toon, 23, and Manoj, 22 — were rushed to a nearby hospital but doctors declared them dead. Police said all the victims, who belong to Samastipur in Bihar, worked in a rice mill run by businessman Deepak Jain. “The victims used to sleep inside the godown of the rice mill. Like on other days, they again went to sleep in the godown Thursday night and were buried under the sacks. Some other labourers were also sleeping in the godown at some distance, but they could not hear the screams of the victims. The victims were found dead Friday morning,” said a police official.

A case under Section 304 A, causing death by negligence, of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the rice mill owner.