Pathanamthitta (Kerala), Jul 8 (PTI) The operation to rescue a worker trapped under rocks following a landslide at a quarry site in this district, which was temporarily suspended due to repeated rockfalls on Tuesday, commenced again after heavy machinery was brought to the site.
The operation, which commenced at 7 am was suspended temporarily in the afternoon after repeated instances of rockfall, posing a threat to the lives of the rescue personnel.
Later in the day, the district administration said the rescue operation resumed after the long boom Hitachi required for the mission was brought from Alappuzha.
According to visuals on TV channels, lights were set up by the rescue personnel to continue with the operation even after it got dark.
The long boom crane was seen being used to remove the rocks which were covering the excavator inside which the migrant worker from Bihar is believed to be trapped.
The rescue operation had been stopped on Monday after fresh landslides.
One worker was killed and another remained trapped under the rocks after a landslide at a quarry site in Payyanamon near Konni here.
On Tuesday morning, four members of the special rescue team climbed down using ropes close to the accident site to examine the excavator under which the remaining worker is believed to be trapped.
The rescuers removed some of the smaller rocks by hand from on top of the excavator and thereafter, climbed back to safety.
They later told reporters that they did not hear any sound from inside the buried excavator.
District Collector Prem Krishnan said that the rescuers climbed down to the trapped excavator to find spots where ropes could be hooked onto it to pull it out.
"Besides that, we are getting a 30-tonne capacity crane from Karunagappally to pull out the excavator from the rocks. Additionally, as a back-up plan, we are also going to get a big Hitachi from Alappuzha to remove the rocks," he told reporters here in the morning.
He also said that the rescuers could not tell if anyone was inside the excavator's cabin because of the huge rocks on top of it.
The tragic incident occurred when a section of rock and soil suddenly collapsed onto an excavator during the quarrying work.
Two workers from Odisha -- Mahadev and Ajay Rai -- were inside the machine at the time of the accident.
One body had been recovered, but the victim had not yet been formally identified.
The workers had just returned to their shift after lunch when the rocks gave way.
A specialised 27-member team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), led by Commander Sanjay Singh Malsuni, reached the site on Monday from Thiruvalla to help in the rescue mission.