Sunday saved many lives

Thank god it that was a Sunday and early morning. The number of dead and injured could have been much higher if the accident at the Metro construction site in Zamrudpur had happened on a busier hour or a weekday.

Thank god it that was a Sunday and early morning. The number of dead and injured could have been much higher if the accident at the Metro construction site in Zamrudpur had happened on a busier hour or a weekday.

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There was no moving traffic at the place unlike last year when a girder fell on a moving Blueline bus near Laxmi Nagar on the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar metro corridor.

Six people, including Anshuman Pratihar (28), site engineer, Niranjan (18) and Badan Singh (35), died, while 14 construction workers were injured when a girder, a slab connecting two piers and few segments, fell.

Three of the dead were still to be identified till evening.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit later visited the injured at AIIMS Trauma Centre and announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the dead, Rs 2 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries.

Police said the incident was reported at 4:57 am. Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Ajai Kashyap said, “Three persons who were brought out from the debris died on the spot, while two more bodies were trapped in the rubble till late in the evening. The injured were taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre, Safdurjung and Moolchand Hospitals.”

A water pipe that broke in the accident flooded the site hampering rescue operations. “The supply was stopped by 8.45 am,” said a fire officer. The police have lodged an FIR against unknown people.