TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: Tragedy struck four labourers when a private minibus rammed into a roadside shanty and ran over them in the Verna Industrial Estate on Saturday night, injuring five others.
The incident occurred at around 11.30 pm when the labourers, engaged in road construction work, were sleeping in the shanty. The mini bus was proceeding with the staff of a factory.
The victims have been identified as Ramesh Shivnath Mahato, 41,Vinod Singh, 44, Rajendra Mahato, 50 and Anil Mahato, 39, all natives of Bihar. Three of them were declared brought dead by the doctors at South Goa District Hospital, Margao, while one succumbed to his injuries at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim.
Tuno Mahanto, 32, one of the four other workers, who were injured was discharged while, three - Dinesh Kumar Singh, 31, Rajesh Kumar Mandal, 27, and Naresh Suresh Singh, 62, were undergoing treatment at the South Goa District Hospital, Margao.
All the workers were sleeping in the hut when the tragedy struck them.
Besides this, the minibus driver Bharat Govekar, 52, a resident of Cortalim was also injured and has been admitted in the South Goa District Hospital, Margao, for treatment. He has suffered fracture to his hand.
SP South Sunita Sawant on Sunday said that all the workers were working on the construction of drainages and pavements in the vicinity of Verna Industrial Estate, and on Saturday after completing their day’s work, they were sleeping in the make-shift huts. Some workers were also sleeping in the adjacent hut and a bigger tragedy was averted as the ill-fated minibus got stuck after ramming into the first hut.
According to SP Sawant, the minibus was transporting staff of Rosenberger company from Verna. On reaching near a sloppy road toward Loutolim, the driver lost control over the wheels and rammed into the roadside hutments. She said that at the time of accident, the policemen who reached the spot, found the driver ‘smelling’ of alcohol.
Verna PI Melson Colaco said that based on the complaint, an offence has been registered against driver Bharat Govekar under Sections 279, 336, 338 and 304 of IPC and 185 of Motor Vehicles Act.
As per the police investigation, the driver was under the influence of alcohol and he will be arrested after being discharged from the hospital.
The labourers had come to Verna recently and were staying in makeshift roadside huts. Abdulkhadar Kukkangai of Kerala, currently residing at Ponda, was the contractor, while the works were supervised by Mehboob Subani Shaikh, also residing at Jaycee Nagar, Ponda.
The Verna Police have contacted the family members of the deceased as well as the injured in Bihar, and have informed them about the accident. The family members are likely to arrive in the State within a day or two. Three bodies have been preserved in the South Goa District Hospital morgue at Margao, while one has been preserved at the GMC morgue, Bambolim.
Some of the workers, who were grief-stricken, said that they had a providential escape as they had come out of the huts to answer phone calls. The workers and locals were seen asking the inebriated driver to come out of the bus.
