Boulder collapse near Bengaluru: Half-eaten meals remain where a routine workday at quarry turned fatal

Half-eaten meals packed from home were scattered next to unopened plastic water bottles; Two earthmovers and six drilling machines were among the first signs that work had suddenly stopped at the quarry at Hulukenahalli village in Tavarekere Hobli on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Thursday (July 2, 2026).

Just a few hours earlier, what began as a routine work day ended in tragedy when a large boulder hit a tractor loading crushed stone from a distance of approximately 40 ft, killing at least seven workers and injuring five more.

The quarry, one of many crushing units spread along this belt on the outskirts of Bengaluru, is filled with the sounds of drilling, crushing and blasting that can often be heard for miles. It was unusually quiet on Thursday afternoon. Police had sealed off the area while groups of workers stood on a nearby hill watching authorities enter and exit the site. Despite being repeatedly asked to leave, many stayed behind.

Most of the workers working in the quarry are migrant workers from Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, as well as Yadgir and Raichur in Karnataka.

According to the workers’ statements, nearly 20 workers had come to work in the two adjacent quarries in the morning. “While a few people were eating lunch in the hour before starting work, a few had begun loading stones when a large boulder broke off one face of the quarry, rolled into another section, and fell down a slope onto the workers below,” they recounted.

Workers argued that no person at the construction site was provided with basic protective equipment such as helmets or gloves. Laxminarayan, one of the workers, said, “Blasting is done every evening. After that, we collect stones and sand to load them. No one has helmets, gloves or other safety equipment.”

Laxminarayan said that the quarry owner Udayshankar instructed the workers not to work there and pointed out the buffer zone as it was dangerous.

“But our contractor Ravi asked us to work there because it was easier and faster to work in the buffer zone. There (in the buffer zone) the rocks could be accessed more easily and more material could be loaded in less time instead of digging elsewhere,” he said.

The approach to the quarry was a long drive downhill, leading onto a rough dirt road carved into the hillside. Each vehicle that went up left a thick trail of dust behind, reducing visibility. The same route used by workers throughout the day remained untouched until officials were told the Prime Minister was expected. Shortly after, a water tanker climbed the hill and sprayed water all over the area to disperse the dust. However, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar did not arrive on the spot.

The workers said they lived about 10 km away from the quarry and returned immediately when they heard about the accident. Many of them remained on the hill throughout the day and even said they would protest if action was not taken this time.

“We made many complaints over the years, but no one even bothered to visit,” the workers lamented.