JOIN USA welder working with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) was crushed to death after a crane moving iron beams weighing 9 tonnes collapsed on him at the Metro junction in Peenya on Sunday.
The victim has been identified as Govindaraju (45) from Vaniyambadi in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. Govindaraju stayed with his younger brother Arumugam near Magadi road. His elder son, who also lives with them, is a mechanic.
He is survived by wife, Rani (35), and three children, Ramya (22) Ramesh (18) and Rajesh (16).
At 12:45 pm, Govindaraju and four co-workers were trying to erect iron beams for the completion of an emergency staircase. The workers had strapped the iron beams, each weighing 3 tonnes, to a crane hoist.
“The beam was approximately 30 feet in length and flawlessly strapped to the hoist,” Arumugam said, who is also employed by BMRCL and witnessed the incident.
“While the beams were being moved, the crane began to tilt to the left and collapsed. Govindaraju who was assigned the task of controlling unwanted movement of the beam, by tugging a rope in the opposite direction, came under one of the beams, which almost sliced through his body.”
“Govindaraju’s face was expressionless, but his body showed signs of movement despite it being bludgeoned by the impact,” Arumugam added.
It took authorities over half an hour to free Govindaraju from the pillar. He was taken to the nearby Sapthagiri Hospital and was later admitted to M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital.
No supervisors
Co-workers claimed that there was no site engineer, supervisor or other BMRCL officials at the time of the incident. They also claimed that they were being instructed through a mobile phone.
According to a police officer, the crane was not overloaded as it had the capacity to lift a payload of up to 12 tonnes.
“However, the surface on whichthe crane stood had moisture due to rain and the ground could have possibly given way when the beam was being shifted,” he added.
The police have taken the contractor, Venkataswamy, into custody after registering a case of death due to negligence under section 304A of the IPC. The police are on the lookout for the crane operator, who is absconding.
BMRCL in a official communique has said: “Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accident occurred when the main frame of the emergency staircase being provided for evacuation of passengers was being shifted from the service road to the adjacent work site using a hydra which toppled on the victim who was supervising the shifting.”