Ooty: Four construction workers are feared buried alive, as loose earth caved in on them from a height of nearly 20 ft at Ballattimattarm near Coonoor, about 28 km from here today.

Five persons were working in a 20-ft pit, dug for construction of a new building and suddenly the loose soil fell on them around 10.30 am, trapping four of them under the soil, police said.

While Kanagaraj (50) was rescued with minor injuries by colleagues, others, identified as Pratap (18), Arumugham (48), Karthikeyan (26) and Kamaraj (50), are still under the soil, they said.

District Collector P Shankar and SP Murali Ramba arrived at the scene and are monitoring the rescue operations, which were being carried out jointly by the Fire and Rescue and Police departments to rescue the trapped workers, they said.

Kanagaraj is admitted to the government hospital at Coonoor. eom