INDIAN CHIMNEY COLLAPSE, MANY WORKERS DIED

MORE THAN 100 FEARED DEAD IN INDIA

DUE TO THE COLLAPSE OF A GIANT CHIMNEY

RAIPUR, India (AFP) - At least 36 workers died and seven others were injured after a chimney under construction at a power plant in the mineral-rich central Indian state of Chhattisgarh collapsed Wednesday afternoon. Rescuers on Thursday were searching desperately for survivors in rubble left by the collapse of a giant chimney in central India, with a top union official saying more than 100 workers were feared dead.Labourers had completed 100 meters (330 feet) of the planned 275-metre chimney when the entire structure came crashing down in bad weather on Wednesday. A government officer in Korba, said 36 dead bodies were retrieved from the accident site by Thursday evening.

Officials believe about 100 workers are still missing in the rubble. Seven workers were rescued alive and are undergoing treatment at a local hospital. "It's a massive collapse, and the debris is spread over a large area," said Mr. Agrawal. He said it will take at least a another day to complete the rescue operation. "We are facing great difficulty in removing the concrete. Once the debris is removed, we will be able to rescue people or find bodies." Deadly construction site accidents are relatively common in India, where health and safety rules are routinely flouted, but a builders' labour group said this incident was bad, even by Indian standards. Police and government officials said they were having difficulties establishing exactly how many people were buried because the company has been unable to say how many contractors were working on the site.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When Yudhisthira Mahārāja was asked, "What is the most wonderful thing in the world?" he replied, "The most wonderful thing is that every day, every moment, people are dying, and yet everyone thinks that death will not come for him." Every minute and every second we experience that living entities are going to the temple of death. Men, insects, animals, birds - everyone is going. This world, therefore, is called mrtyuloka - the planet of death. Every day there are obituaries, and if we bother to go to the cemetery or crematorium grounds we can validate them. Yet everyone is thinking, "Somehow or other I'll live." Everyone is subject to the law of death, yet no one takes it seriously. This is illusion.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:

"Raja-Vidya: The King of Knowledge - Chapter: 'Knowledge Beyond Samsara' "