Landslide kills stone worker

A worker died in a landslide while illegally extracting stone from a hillock at Shah Arefin Tila area of Companiganj upazila in Sylhet yesterday morning.

The deceased was Reaz Ahmed, 19.

Tajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Companiganj Police Station, said, “He went to the pit to extract stone illegally; a chunk of soil collapsed when he was shovelling a pit, leaving him injured.”

“Other workers nearby took him to the upazila health complex where doctors declared him dead,” he said, adding that the body was sent to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

“A case is underway as we are trying to find out who appointed him and who is in charge of the illegal pit,” he said.

Shah Arefin Tila area has become a ravaged spot due to illegal stone extraction over the decade and at least twenty stone works have been killed in such incidents in last couple of years.

“Extracting stone is prohibited in Shah Arefin Tila as per a High Court order,” said Companiganj UNO Bijen Banerjee.