Anger and despair as workers plead for information about their near and dear ones

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

It was fear, anger and lack of information as workers gathered around the site at metro rail site in Pachyappa’s College on Wednesday night when a  25 tonne steel rods came crashing down after the arm of the crane crashed killing a worker and injuring six others.

“Please let us in. We want to know the fate of our colleagues,” said a worker as L&T officials denied them the entry.

Angered by the indifference, a worker banged at the metal door demanding to be let in as the guards stopped him. Immediately, a policeman pounced at him, slapped him and few other workers and asked them to vacate the police.

“Don’t stand here. Leave the place at once,” he said as workers took cover inside the makeshift barracks near the site. “The steel rods feel on them when the work was going on. More than 100 were inside,” a worker said and added that the supervisor has asked them not to speak to anybody. He said the casualties might be high.

Initially, it looked as the whole issue was being hushed up. It was only the workers who were in know of things. The traffic was normal and people hardly had any inkling of such a major accident.

Immediately, after the accident the project managers at the site were taken by police for questioning. When questioned a metro rail spokesman said he had no inkling of it. “You ask L&T officials,” he said. Initially, an ambulance and a fire engine entered into the site. It was later followed by five more ambulances. Most of the ambulances were private ones and one had a number embossed on it. When Express contacted, pat came the reply that it belonged to a hospital and it is being leased to Kilpauk medical hospital.