TIRUPATI: Two brothers were buried alive when mud and rocks collapsed on them while they were digging for sand at a quarry in Mudarampalli of Pedda Panjani mandal near Palamaneru of Chittoor district on Thursday. M Krishna Reddy (30) and M Obul Reddy (28) were ploughing into the 16-feet-deep bank of a stream for sand to be used for the construction of houses by the Housing Board, Palamaneru Rural CI Srinivasulu said.
Three youngsters of the village were collecting sand and loading it into a tractor when the incident took place. One of the trio, Lakshmi Narayana, managed to escape with minor injuries. Narayana rushed to the nearest village and called for help, but by the time villagers ran to the spot and dug out the brothers it was too late. The two had died of suffocation.
Revenue officials and police arrived at the spot to console the family of the victims and extended `25,000 immediate relief to the family. A case has been registered under IPC Section 174 (suspicious death). Locals said six persons had died in similar incidents in the village in the past Site of the accident few months.