Kishanji's house wall caves in; 3 die

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Three construction workers were killed and two injured when the foundation of a wall they were digging collapsed today.

The incident occurred on the premises of former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s residence at Badegaun in Lalitpur.

SP Bikram Singh Thapa, in-charge of Metropolitan Police Range, Jawalakhel, said the deceased had been identified as Sandeep Ghalan of Makwanpur, and Bhalu Lama and Kanchha Tamang of Dhading. The three died on their way to Patan Hospital.

The injured — Bir Bahadur Ghalan and Subash Thokar of Makwanpur — are undergoing treatment at the hospital and are said to be out of danger. The eight-foot foundation of the wall caved in and buried the labourers at around 11:45 am. A police squad and 10 cops guarding the former PM’s residence were involved in the rescue efforts.

Subash, one of the injured, said from hospital, “The foundation collapsed all of a sudden. We could do nothing.” SP Thapa said the police were questioning the contractors - Sita Ram Acharya and Keshav Kafle- to establish the safety lapse. “We have arrested construction supervisor Netra Prasad Poudel. The construction company had not adopted adequate safety measures,” he said.

He claimed the construction company would be made to pay the kin of deceased and injured. Purna Prasad Kadariya, MoPPW Secretary, took moral responsibility for the tragedy, and said the construction company would be brought to justice.

Amita Kapali, Bhattarai’s aide, said she heard about the tragedy while she was with the former PM at the hospital.

“I phoned the Jaya Mukunda Khanal, spok-esperson for home ministry, and local police, urging them to probe the incident,” she informed. She said MoPPW had tasked Shivako Kalika Devsthal Construction Company to build the wall.

Bhattarai was not in the house when the incident took place, as he has been in Norvic Hospital.

The government had built the house for the leader a few years ago. In August, a part of the house had caved in due to rain.

Poor construction was blamed for it, prompting the government to reconstruct it and grill the contractors and officials of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works.