Gurgaon: Two labourers who had taken shelter from the rain near a wall inside an under-construction school were crushed to death when it collapsed on Friday afternoon.It was the first day at the construction site for Suraj (38) and Dayanand (45) — both from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh — who had been hired for landscaping work on the upcoming Vasant Valley School campus in DLF Phase 2. Suraj is survived by his wife and two daughters, aged five and two, while Dayanand leaves behind his wife and a son.According to police and workers at the site, six labourers had reported for work on Friday — their first day on the project — to shift plants around the premises, where an old school building is being renovated and redeveloped. Work began around 11.30am but was repeatedly disrupted by intermittent rain.As the showers intensified around 1.30pm, Suraj and Dayanand moved inside the partially renovated building and sat near a wall to escape the rain. The remaining workers took shelter elsewhere.“Suddenly, the wall gave way and buried the two men under its debris. Other workers raised an alarm and informed emergency services,” a police officer said.The fire department received a call at 1.58pm and rushed rescue teams to the spot. Police also reached soon after. The two labourers were pulled out from under the rubble and taken to a nearby hospital, but both had suffered fatal injuries.Ahmed Ali, the contractor who engaged the workers, said Friday was their first day at the site. “They had come only for landscaping work. Rain interrupted the work, and the accident happened while they were taking shelter,” he added.A guard on the premises said construction activity had remained suspended for the previous two to three days because of continuous rain. “Only smaller jobs, such as removing plants, resumed on Friday after the weather improved. But it rained again in the afternoon. The labourers stopped work and went inside. Two of them were sitting near the wall when it collapsed,” he added.Police have shifted the bodies for autopsy and begun an inquiry into the cause of the collapse. Officials are examining if continuous rainfall weakened the structure and whether adequate safety measures were in place before labourers were allowed to work inside the partially demolished building.Police, forensic teams and other officials remained at the site. No FIR was lodged till late evening. “Further legal action will be taken based on the findings of the probe,” an officer said.
