2 killed as concrete block falls off construction crane at Four Seasons Residency project

The operator had fixed the block on the crane to reach the 42nd floor of the under construction building. A police officer from Worli police station said, “The concrete block came down fast and crushed the two under it. The block also damaged two cars parked on the road

Mumbai: Two people standing by a paan shop outside the Four Seasons Hotel died on the spot when a concrete block from a crane fell on them. The block was placed on the crane to maintain equilibrium with the weight of the construction material being lifted for the Four Seasons Residency project, situated behind the hotel in Worli.

Mumbai, India - February 14, 2023: Two people die after a concrete block of an under-construction building attached to a crane fell on them, at Worli, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The accident took place at 8.30 pm on Tuesday, said Worli police probing the incident.

The operator had fixed the block on the crane to reach the 42nd floor of the under construction building. A police officer from Worli police station said, “The concrete block came down fast and crushed the two under it. The block also damaged two cars parked on the road.” Soon after the incident, the two were rushed to B Y L Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone III, Akbar Pathan.

The deceased who were declared dead by doctors at the hospital have been identified as Imran Ali Khan, 30, from Kolkata, and Sabir Ali, 36, from Bihar. They worked in a zari designing unit in the chawls nearby.

Worli Koliwada resident Advocate Sharad Koli, who was on his way home on a motorcycle, around 8.45 pm stopped by when he saw people gathered at the spot. “I saw two people lying badly injured on the road. At first, I thought that they might have had a fight with sharp weapons. Subsequently, onlookers said that some blocks had fallen on them from a construction work going on in the hotel’s premises. They were so badly injured that their faces were beyond recognition,” he said, adding there were no visible safety precautions like nets at the site.

Mohammad Zafar, who works at an export company near the spot, was on a tea break with colleagues when the incident occurred. He “saw a lot of rubble around the two injured people, unsure whether they were injured by a slab of wall or some part of the equipment that fell from above”.

The police said workers from small establishments nearby came to the stall for tea and samosa, or to smoke. The two may have been on a similar break when the incident took place.