Three killed at IGI construction site

Three workers were killed and two grievously injured at a construction site for a new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday. Work came to a standstill after other workers protested and destroyed vehicles.

Three workers were killed and two grievously injured at a construction site for a new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday. Work came to a standstill after other workers protested and destroyed vehicles and the site office after the accident.

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The incident happened around 9.30 a.m. when five workers got trapped during an excavation work at a site close to the new fire station. The workers were taken to a hospital, where two were declared brought dead. Another worker succumbed to his injuries later.

The names of the three workers who died are Ravinder, Pushpendra and Jeetendra. Two others who were injured — Umesh and Pran Singh — are still in the hospital. All five are in the age group of 23-25 and are from Katni in Madhya Pradesh.

“One of the contractors of the main contractor, Larson & Toubro, was doing a cable laying work in a 20-feet trench. There were mud walls along the trench and one of the walls collapsed and the workers got trapped,” said an airport official, on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to media.

Security officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) rushed to the spot and rescued the workers. Agitated workers left work and started protesting. About eight vehicles, including the ambulance that was carrying the workers and two CISF vehicles, were damaged. As the situation was getting out of hand, the Delhi Police, along with CISF men, used force to disperse the crowd.

Airport operator Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) is modernising the IGI Airport and building a new terminal (Terminal 3, which would be an integrated international cum domestic terminal). The accident happened at the site of the new terminal.

The Police have registered a case of death due to negligence and investigations are on. Police said they have asked the contractor to investigate the incident.