One dead as scaffolding collapses at AIIMS construction site

This was the same site where two labourers had died during a wall cave-in on March 9. Police registered a case of causing death due to negligence against officials of the company

A labourer died and two others were injured when a scaffolding collapsed at an under-construction site of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Wednesday.

Officials said this was the third such incident at the same site. Two people were killed on March 9 but there were no fatalities in the first incident. (Vipin Kumar/HT photo)

This was the same site where two labourers had died during a wall cave-in on March 9. Police registered a case of causing death due to negligence against the officials of the construction company.

Sources said the police were likely to book the company officials on charges of culpable homicide amounting to murder. Investigating officers said this is the third such incident. A few days before the two died, there was another wall collapse but the trapped labourers survived with minor injuries.

The incident took place at around 7 pm when the three labourers -- Divakar (26), Mahesh (24) and Sushil (23) -- were working at the Masjid Moth side of the AIIMS building. Police said the three were rushed to the Trauma Centre, where Divakar was declared brought dead.

All three hail from Madhepura in Bihar.

“The scaffolding was at a height of 20 feet. It was not concrete. They fell from a height of at least 15 feet. The site contractor fled after the incident. We are looking into the case,” said a police official.

The other two, police said, are unconscious and had not given their statements till the time of going to press. Following the incident, labourers stopped work at the site demanding action against the contractor. The labourers said that they had requested their contractor to take safety precautions but to no avail.

Sources said that a private company is constructing a new mother and child facility at the Masjid Moth campus of AIIMS.

An AIIMS official said, “The land had been allotted to the HSSC for construction. AIIMS is not responsible for it.”

On March 9, two labourers — Islam and Vinod — died when a 15-feet wall collapsed at AIIMS. Five labourers who tried to rescue them were also buried under the debris but were rescued.