Falling racks kill three workers at warehouse

Three workers were killed and five others injured after iron racks came crashing down on them at a warehouse in Seegehalli near Whitefield on Thursday.

The warehouse belongs to Holisol Logistics Pvt Ltd.

Nearly 60 staff members were at the warehouse around 12.15 pm when the racks tilted and the crates started falling. Most of them managed to run out as soon as they noticed the racks collapsing. However, four workers at a corner were stuck.

Farooq (21), a resident of Koralur near Kadugodi, Subhash (25) and Gyan Darshan (26), both natives of Odisha, were killed in the incident.

Ramakanth, who was under the racks for hours, was rescued by a fire and emergency team which reached the spot in 30 minutes. Kuldeep, Janakiram, Narayanaswamy and Baahubali, the injured, have been shifted to hospital.

Kadugodi Police filed a case of negligence and arrested business head Ajay and site in-charge Amanullah.

The Delhi-based Holisol has been functioning in Seegehalli since July 2017.

Diganth from dispatch said he noticed the racks falling and ran out of the warehouse, as he heard his colleagues scream. “I could not help them as the racks were huge,” he said. Nikhil Jain, an employee from Haryana, said: “Farooq and I were working in the same area when I saw the racks coming down. I stretched out my hand to Farooq, but he was already stuck. I ran for my life.”

Salman, Farooq’s brother, said Farooq joined Holisol four months ago, for a monthly salary of Rs 13,000. 

“It is the sheer negligence of the company that caused the mishap. Without any foundation, they have put up huge iron racks and were keeping big crates in small compartments,” he said. He has sought action against Holisol’s owner. Shivanna B, a member of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, said: “We reached the spot at 2 pm and initiated rescue work. We found Farooq around 5.30 pm, and after 15 minutes found Subhash, and later, Gyan Darshan. All the three were found dead.”

Another NDRF staff said the team in Mahadevapura was informed quite late, thus delaying rescue. “We tried to save everyone, but it took a long time to remove the crates as the warehouse is around 1,20,000 sq ft in size. Boxes and parcels were lying around; it was difficult to reach the injured.”