Survivor recounts his lucky escape

SHAHAPUR: Prem Prakash, 33, a labourer working with VSL for the last eight months, had a fortuitous escape and survived with a fracture to his right leg. His wife and two children live in Bihar’s Arval district.

Still in a dazed condition, Prakash said he was on the late shift on the fateful night. “I reached the site around 8 pm and work started smoothly as usual,” he told HT from his bed in the Shahapur sub-district hospital. “I, along with another labourer, was 100 feet up on the pier when the launcher collapsed. I fell on its side but my leg got stuck.”

Prakash was trapped under the launcher for 20 to 25 minutes. “My right leg was pinned down under the wreckage,” he said. “I cried out for help and began praying to God to save me. The villagers who arrived at the site shortly afterwards spotted me because I was at the edge and pulled me out. They gave me water to drink, and after a few minutes a vehicle arrived, which brought me to this hospital.”

Two other labourers were admitted to the Shahapur hospital and later referred to another hospital for further treatment. “My cousins, uncle and other relatives also work in a L&T company, and when they heard about the accident, they rushed to the hospital,” said Prakash. “I was saved by the grace of God, and once I recover, I will go to my village and stay there for a few months.”