Second fatal accident in a month: Iron rod falls from building, kills truck helper in Andheri

In a tragic incident in Andheri East, a 30-year-old man was killed by an iron rod falling from a construction site, highlighting safety negligence in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: Barely a month after a 22-year-old woman was killed in Jogeshwari when a cement block fell on her from an under-construction building, another fatal accident has struck Mumbai’s construction sites, this time in Andheri East, where a 30-year-old man died on Wednesday morning after an iron rod plunged from the seventh floor and hit him on the head.

Second fatal accident in a month: Iron rod falls from building, kills truck helper in Andheri

The victim, Amar Anand Pagare, also known as Bala, worked as a helper for a Nashik-based truck driver. Police said the incident took place around 11 am at the Privilion Building project site of RRC Ventures, near Marol Naka, where Pagare and his driver had arrived earlier in the morning to deliver a consignment of cement blocks from Nashik.

While the truck driver, Anil Kachru Kokne, was resting inside the vehicle after the long overnight drive, Pagare stepped out for a short stroll as the unloading began. Within moments, tragedy struck, a heavy iron rod came hurtling down from the upper floors of the building, hitting him on the head.

Workers nearby rushed to his aid and took him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

“The site had no basic safety nets or warning barricades. A life was lost simply because no precautions were taken,” said a police officer from MIDC police station.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 10) Datta Nalawade confirmed that an FIR has been registered under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), for death caused by negligence, against the site developer and those responsible for safety at the construction site. “The site supervisor and manager have been called in to record their statements,” he added.

The tragedy has drawn fresh attention to the poor safety culture at construction sites in Mumbai, coming barely a month after a similar fatality in Jogeshwari East. On October 9, 22-year-old bank executive Sanskruti Amin lost her life after a cement block fell on her from the Shivkunj construction site. In that case, too, the police booked the builder and site supervisors for negligence.

Construction-related fatalities remain a persistent hazard in the city, with workers and bystanders alike paying the price for lax safety norms.

As one investigator put it grimly, “Every time a site cuts corners on safety, it gambles with human lives. Pagare’s death was not an accident, it was preventable.”