The mishap took place at about 1:30 am on Tuesday morning on the Sahara Darwaja Road footpath, where Surat Electricity Company (SEC) cables were being laid down by Asian Brown Bovery (ABB) contract workers. Two supervisors and three manual labourers were unloading a metal cable drum from a vehicle when it rolled away on the road. Unable to control it further, the five-feet-tall cable drum rolled down from the road on to the footpath, crushing two and seriously injuring two children in their sleep.

The two who died on the spot have been identified as Premila Vasupuda and Pooja Vasupada, while Jyoti and Ravi Vasupada -- deceased Premila's children -- were seriously injured.

Pooja's father Ramchandra Ramji Vasupada, who lodged a complaint in the Salabatpura police station, has claimed negligence on part of the contractors and labourers laying the cable. He has named supervisors Subhash and Ghanshyam along with manual labourers Sagu Tita, Bhavsingh and Rasu Jiga as the accused. While a case has been registered against the five, no arrests have been made. When contacted, a SEC spokesperson said that SEC had given a contract on `turn key' basis to ABB to lay electricity cables and work was on since the past about a month now.