Metro rail orders safety audit of cranes after work site crash

Chennai:

Chennai Metro Rail has ordered safety audit of cranes in all the metro rail sites across the city after a migrant labourer was killed and six others were injured in an accident at a construction site near Pachaiyappas College on the busy Poonamalle High Road on Wednesday night.

Chief public Relation Officer of Metro rail S Krishnamoorthy told Express on Thursday that crane related works in all metro rail sites have been put on hold as safety audit is being conducted.

The safety checks of crane has been ordered after the arm of a crane that was holding 25 tonne of steel rods snapped and fell dragging a worker in the process into the diaphgram pit (for building underground metro station) and injuring six others.

To a query on was there any safety lapse in the crane being used in the site, he said it is too early to jump into conclusions. “Only after a technical officer submits a report, we would know the exact cause of the accident,” he said.

Krishnamoorthy also said that the body of the deceased worker Sindhu alias Hanif  will be flown to his native place by a Indian Airlines flight on Friday morning  He said the worker is expected to get a sum of Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh . Meanwhile, of the six people injured in the incident, four have been shifted from the general hospital to Apollo Hospital while two have been discharged. It is learnt that the condition of the two workers is stated to be serious. L&T officials refuse to confirm it.

The metro rail site near Pachyappa’s College wore a desolate look. “Today is a holiday. No worker is around,” said a security personnel at the site. A site worker who does not want to be quoted said that workers are afraid to work after the incident. “It will take some time for them to drown down the incident,” he said.