Berhampur: The death toll of Odia labourers killed in the granite quarry explosion in Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh rose to six with the death of another person Sunday morning.
The labourer, identified as Rama Chandra Nahak of Biti Nuagaon village under Rambha police limits in Ganjam district, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam.
Two Odia labourers-Duryodhan Nahak and Manoranjan Nahak of Bandhatala Nuagaon village under Rambha police limits had died on the spot August 3. The third identified as Bhima Nahak of J Radhagobinpur village in Ganjam district the following day.
Meanwhile, of the three seriously injured, Rajendra Nahak of Diandein village under Rambha police limits in Ganjam district died August 7 while Pandav Lenka of Biti Nuagaon village under Rambha police limits breathed his last at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam August 10.
Following the blast, the Odisha government had sent a two-member fact-finding team, comprising the District Labour Welfare Officer and the Rural Labour Inspector of Ganjam district, to Kurnool for an on-the-spot investigation.
Expressing profound grief at the tragic incident, the Andhra Pradesh government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased.
Three days after the tragic mishap, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on August 6 had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and free treatment to the injured labourers.
A week after the incident, the Kurnool police had arrested five persons, including TDP leader and owner of quarry Srinibas Choudhury, and two Odias. Of the two arrested Odias, one was identified as Kailash Nahaka, a contractor from Rambha of Ganjam district.
PNN
