No safety belts: 2 labourers fall to death from 48th floor in Mumbai as cradle wire snaps

Police have booked the contractor, site supervisor and cradle maintenance representative for alleged negligence.

Working on the 48th floor of an under-construction building without safety belts, two labourers plunged to their deaths after a wire supporting their work cradle snapped at a Nahur construction site on Sunday. A third worker, who was wearing a safety belt, survived the accident, exposing the potentially fatal consequences of safety lapses at the high-rise project.

Both had been employed by Chennai-based Electrical Contractor Facade Lighting Services for the past four months, police said (PTI)

The two deceased, Saif Ali, 21, from Bihar’s Champaran district, and Mohammad Suhaib, 31, from Gaya, were carrying out exterior lighting work at the Sunroof Project of Pioneer Housing Society on Airoli-Bhandup Road when the accident occurred. According to the police, the snapping of one of the cradle’s supporting wires caused the platform to tilt sharply, throwing the two workers off balance. Neither had secured himself with a safety belt, and both fell from the 48th floor.

Their co-worker, Mohammad Imran Shaikh, 24, an electrician who was wearing a safety belt, was saved from the fall. The two injured workers were taken to Veer Savarkar Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

The Navghar police said they were informed about the incident on Sunday and subsequently visited the construction site. During the inquiry, Shaikh told the police that the three workers had been engaged in exterior lighting work on the building.

“They had completed the work on the 47th floor and were doing light fittings on the exterior gallery of the 48th floor. While they were standing on the cradle, one of its supporting wires snapped, causing the platform to tilt to one side. As Saif and Suhaib were not wearing safety belts, they fell. Shaikh, who was wearing one, was saved,” a police officer said.

The absence of safety nets or guards to prevent workers from falling added to the gravity of the incident. The two labourers fell to the ground and sustained severe head injuries and extensive bodily trauma.

Both had been employed by Chennai-based Electrical Contractor Facade Lighting Services for the past four months, police said. The police have registered a case under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with causing death by negligence, against Sainthurai, the owner of the electrical contracting firm; Sadhu Nadar, the site supervisor; and Manoj Gupta of Ayush Enterprises, who was responsible for maintaining the cradle.