A labourer was killed and another injured when a huge cement slab fell on them while working in a tunnel at an under-construction metro site in west Delhi on Wednesday.
The curved cement slabs were being used to support the metro tunnel walls on the Janakpuri West to Kalindi Kunj Corridor. The victims were working to place the slabs, but what exactly caused one to fall is a subject of investigation, said police.
Anand Mandal, a co-worker of the victims, said the slab that fell was huge and heavy. “Each of these slabs weighs around three tonne. But there were only those two workers under that portion of the tunnel at that time,” he said.
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The incident took place at around 9.45 a.m. at the site where the underground Dashrathpuri metro station is being constructed on the Dabri-Palam Road.
“There were many labourers, engineers and other staff working near the spot when the slab fell. The staff used their own equipments to remove the labourers from under the slab and rushed them to hospital,” said Narendra Pratap Singh, the security in-charge at the site.
Vijay Kumar, 26, was declared brought dead at the nearby Bhagat Chandra Hospital. His 35-year-old colleague Jai Prakash was treated for severe injuries before being discharged later in the day. Prakash, a native of Chhattisgarh, is out of danger, said his co-workers.
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A senior police officer said it was the hospital staff, not the metro construction people, who called the police control room (PCR) number to inform about the incident.
Kumar’s body is being preserved at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital mortuary until his family arrives from his native village in Jharkhand.
“DMRC had outsourced the construction work to a company HCC-Samsung. We have registered a case of causing death by negligence and negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings against the company’s contractors,” said RA Sanjeev, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West).
The incident took place at the site where the underground Dashrathpuri metro station is being constructed on the Dabri-Palam Road