Two women labourers were killed and three others and their male colleague injured when a stack of bricks collapsed on them at a kiln in Nadia’s Santipur on Sunday afternoon.

The workers were reportedly lifting bricks from Sonali kiln’s pit in Chandra village.

All six were rushed to Nadia district hospital in Krishnagar where two were declared dead. The four injured are serious but stable.

The deceased were Pinki Dahari, 28, and Pulin Suranda, 35, natives of Jharkhand.

Sources said the six-year-old kiln employs roughly 150 labourers.

“A huge stack of bricks collapsed after it was accidentally brushed by the group of workers during the course of their tasks. We heard the deafening sound of the collapse and rushed to the spot to see labourers trapped under the bricks,” said an eyewitness, claiming that a few thousand bricks were routinely stacked in close proximity to each other inside the kiln.

“Other labourers and residents rushed to rescue the trapped labourers from the 10-foot-deep pit and rushed them to the hospital in Krishnaga,” said labourer Mohon Murmu.

Kiln owner Adhir Ghosh said it was unclear how the stack collapsed. “We always try to ensure safety of our labourers,” he said.

A local resident claimed that the lack of regular checks at the kiln led to the accident. “The side wall of the pit needs to be checked regularly. It appears that a crack on the pit’s wall led to the collapse of the brick stack,” he said. Ghosh denied the allegation.

A senior police officer said they were probing if there were any errors on the part of the brick kiln authorities.