Murmu, a resident of Bahda village in East Singhbhum district, died around 8 am on Tuesday while he was sitting on his cot, about 12 hours before Baktu saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
A Jharkhand worker, one of 40 other workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, died after his 70-year-old father ‘died due to anxiety’, hours before he was to be rescued.
According to information received from family members, his family members said on Wednesday that Basset alias Barsa Murmu was worried about his son, 28-year-old Bhaktu, as he had heard about the tunnel collapse on November 12.
Murmu, a resident of Bahda village in East Singhbhum district, died around 8 am on Tuesday while he was sitting on his cot, about 12 hours before Baktu saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
When contacted, local government officials said they were yet to confirm the reason behind the death, though it was suspected that Murmu died of a heart attack.
Suddenly he fell from the cot and died.
Since Tuesday, Bhaktu’s mother and father Murmu had stopped speaking. Murmu’s son-in-law Thakar Hansda, who was present when seventy-year-old Murmu breathed his last, said he was worried about his son and suddenly collapsed from the cot and died.
Family members said Murmu anxiously waited for information regarding his son’s rescue. Sanjeevan Oraon, officer-in-charge of Dumariya police station, who visited the victim’s house, said that the cause of death was not known.
Civil surgeon of East Singhbhum, Dr. Jujhar Manjhi, who had arrived along with 14 others from Jharkhand for health checkup , said that he is aware of the death, but no medical report has reached him yet. Bhaktu along with 14 other people from Jharkhand is recuperating at AIIMS Rishikesh, where he reached along with others for health checkup around 2 pm on Wednesday.
Jharkhand Labor Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma said, ‘The Uttarakhand government has kept the workers under surveillance. As soon as he is discharged from the hospital, we will take him to Ranchi by air.
