Century-old building's slab collapses, crushes labourer

A labourer died and another fractured his leg after a slab collapsed on them during renovation work at the four-storey Choksey Mansion in Fort on Tuesday morning.

A labourer died and another fractured his leg after a slab collapsed on them during renovation work at the four-storey Choksey Mansion in Fort on Tuesday morning.

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The deceased, Sagar Vishwas (22), and the injured, Rajkumar Gorani (26), were part of a four-member team of labourers who were applying plaster on the ground floor of the century-old structure.

“We rushed to help them but Vishwas was totally crushed under the slab,” said Mohammed Shakeel, another labourer working at the building. The labourers complained that the structure was dilapidated and its wooden pillars severely damaged.

As renovation work was being carried out at the building for the last three days, all residents had been evacuated.

“At 10.40 am, we received a call about the incident. We rushed the two men to St George Hospital where Vishwas was declared dead on arrival by the doctors,” said a fire brigade officer, requesting anonymity.

Gorani’s right leg has been fractured, but the doctors said his condition is stable.

Vishwas and Gorani lived at Sion Chunabhatti.

The MRA Marg police are looking for the supervisor and contractor of the renovation work to take down their statements. “We have registered a case of accidental death,” said Vilas Marathe, assistant commissioner of police, Azad Maidan division.