Two Bangladeshi construction workers were buried alive when the ground caved in on them inside a pit yesterday afternoon at Tapah, in the state of Perak, of Malaysia.

The victims were identified as Mohammad Iqbal, 30, son of Hasu Mia and Md Taleb, son of Hiron Mia, both from Narsingdi, Sayedul Islam, councillor of the labour wing to the Bangaldesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur told The Daily Star today.

The incident took place at a factory construction site in Kampung Banir when the workers were working in a pit at the site around 4:30pm, Malaysian daily The Star reports quoting Tapah Fire and Rescue Department chief A Ravi.

“We received a call and rushed to the scene to conduct the search and rescue operation. “The first body was found three metres underground an hour after the incident,” fire chief Ravi said.

“The second body was found about 9m under tons of soil at about 6:40pm,” he said, adding that firemen had to use excavators to reco­ver the victims.

Ravi said initial investigations revealed that the ground in the pit sank causing the cave-in. Tapah OCPD Supt Som Sak Din Keliaw said the workers were conducting soil tests at the site prior to the incident.

Musharrat Jebin, second secretary to the labour wing of Bangladeshi High Commission in Kuala Lumpur told The Daily Star the incident was an “accident”.

Counsellor Sayedul Islam, who visited the incident site, said that around 20 Bangladeshi workers were employed to work for the Belgium-based company in Malaysia. “After the ground caved in, two Bangladeshis died.”

The bodies were being kept at Tapah Hospital and would be brought back to the country by Tuesday next week, he added.