Ballari: 3 men washed away in tunnel at JSW

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: In a tragic incident, three workers lost their lives after they were washed away in a tunnel at Jindal Steel Works (JSW) factory, Toranagallu unit in Ballari district Thursday night.

The deceased were identified as Shiva Mahadev, 22, from Chennai; Gante Jedappa, 31 of Hosapete and Sushanth Krishna Nanaru, 23, of Bengaluru. So far the investigation had revealed that there was a power cut in the factory during which one of the workers entered the tunnel to remove a blockage which was preventing water flow. Later, the other two entered the tunnel to help him.

However while they were clearing the blockage, water gushed into the tunnel and the workers were washed away into different tanks that are nearly 80 feet deep.

Two workers who were rescued from the tanks, were rushed to Jindal Sanjeevani Hospital where they died. The third body was found on Friday morning.

Superintendent of Police Ranjith Kumar said a case of unnatural death report (UDR) has been registered and further probe is underway.

The families of the deceased workers reached the place Friday morning after being informed of the incident by Toranagallu police. Following the postmortem, the bodies were handed over to the grieving families later in the day.