Two labourers die as beam at construction site crashes

Soon after the incident, senior police officers, including assistant commissioner of police (headquarters) Vikash Kaushik, reached the spot with reinforcements to prevent any law and order situation.

Two daily wagers were killed and another was critically injured after an iron beam welded with reinforced bars on the 19th floor of an under-construction commercial building in Sector 65 allegedly broke away, resulting in the collapse of a platform, said the police on Thursday.

According to the police, the incident took place around 5pm. (Representative image)

According to the police, the incident took place around 5pm and daily wager Saddam Hussain (26), who was on the 19th floor at the time, fell to his death. A second daily wager, Krishan Saini (21), died on the way to hospital. The third labourer — Manoj Saini (24) — suffered severe injuries during the incident, and is undergoing treatment. Mohammad Ali Sairul, an eyewitness to the incident, said he was working on the 20th floor while Saddam was working with Mukhtar Hussain (40) and Mohammad Shahzaan (27) were on the floor below him when the accident took place.

“When the beam broke all of a sudden, Saddam could not grab onto anything or keep his balance and fell on two workers on the second floor. Mukhtar and Mohammad grabbed on to the ledge and hung on till we all rushed there and pulled them to safety,” Sairul said, adding that Saddam and one of the two workers he fell on died.

He said Saddam did have a safety belt on but there was nothing on the floor to which he could have tethered his safety harness.

“The temporary platform on the iron beam on which they were standing, was extended in air for more than two metres -- it should have been extended only up to a metre. Hence, it could not bear the weight of the three men and the construction material, and the beam broke,” he alleged.

Soon after the incident, senior police officers, including assistant commissioner of police (headquarters) Vikash Kaushik, reached the spot with reinforcements to prevent any law and order situation.

“Prima facie, it seems that there was malfunctioning of some safety features which resulted in the deaths,” Kaushik said. The ACP said more details would surface in their further investigation.

Saddam’s older brother Mohammad Shailuddin (30) said he was working at another construction site in Sector 65 when his family members in Harirampur, in south Dinazpur, West Bengal, received a call from the construction site informing them about Saddam’s death and they in turn called him.

“They called me up and asked me to rush to the spot. I reached and found my brother lying dead,” he said.

He alleged that lack of safety measures at the construction site had resulted in his younger brother’s death.

“He had a five-year-old son. His wife Sabina Yasmin is five months pregnant. Their future is in the dark now,” he said.

The family members along with other workers protested at the construction site for half an hour. Later, police pacified them and removed the body for autopsy.

Yasmin said Saddam earned around ₹1,000-1,200 a day, after working for almost 12 hours. “He was not feeling good on Thursday morning. But he still went to work at 8.30am. He used to give me ₹3,000 per week for household expenses,” she said.

Yasmin works as a domestic help in Victory Valley condominium in Sector 67 and its residents S Sareen, retired brigadier, Bhupendra Pratap Singh, lawyer Daljeet Singh, and a few others also reached the Sector 65 police station to extend help to the affected family. Manoj Kumar, manager (legal), for real estate firm AIPL, which is constructing the 22-storey building, said all safety norms are being followed at the site. He said workers are photographed every few hours to ensure that they follow safety norms.