One dead, three labourers injured after portico ceiling collapses at St Martha's Hospital

The roof was being raised to construct the portico for outpatients, and the work had been going on for the past two months

One worker died and three others were injured when the concrete roof of a portico being constructed at St Martha’s Hospital collapsed on Tuesday morning, officials said. Poor construction is suspected to be the reason for the tragedy.

Of the three injured workers, one is critical. The hospital has promised to foot the medical bill for all three.

The roof — about 30 feet wide and about 20 feet high — was being raised to construct the portico for outpatients, and the work had been going on for the past two months.

The roof collapsed around 6.30 am.

According to the Fire and Emergency Services Department, it received an alert around 7 am. A crane and two earthmovers battled for three hours to clear the debris and pull the workers out.

One of them, Basavaraj, 26, died later in the afternoon. Three others — Chand Pasha, 32, Mohiddin, 27, and Rafi Saab alias Rafiq, 30 — are still under treatment.

The workers hail from Bagalwada and Gudihal villages of Raichur district and were staying in sheds near St John’s Hospital.

All four had climbed the RCC (reinforced cement concrete) roof to do waterproofing when it gave way. A fifth worker, identified as Raja Baksh, escaped unhurt as he was under the portico and ran away the moment he saw the roof collapsing.

The workers had left their sheds around 5 am and taken a bus to reach St Martha’s Hospital by 6 am. They quickly got to work. Baksh started mixing cement and other material for waterproofing while the four others got onto the roof.

“Around 6.30 am, the roof broke into two and collapsed, trapping all four in between,” Baksh told DH. He has filed a police complaint regarding the incident.

The hospital alerted the Halasurugate police and then the fire department.

Two rescue teams headed by Hemanth Kumar K, District Fire Officer (South), were able to pull Pasha and Mohiddin out within a few minutes while Rafiq was rescued after half an hour. Pulling out Basavaraj took a couple of hours as he was stuck deep in the rubble. He had gotten engaged to a woman just a month ago and was to wed her soon.

Rafiq and Pasha sustained fractures but are out of risk, according to the hospital.

A senior official from the department said: “We suspect that substandard work led to the incident. The canopy didn’t have columns (pillars). It was around 30 feet wide and was about 20 feet high.”

Police have taken up a case under IPC Section 304A (causing death by negligence) against the engineer, contractor and others concerned, and are carrying out further investigations.

Hospital to bear all expenses

The portico construction started two months ago and was to be complete in a month, Davy Ollakengil, Chief Medical Officer, St Martha’s Hospital, told DH.

“The hospital will bear the entire treatment expenditure and related expenses of all the labourers. We will do whatever it takes to save the critically injured labourer,” Dr Ollakengil said, adding that the portico was to help outpatients who have to wait for a long time.

Anto Deol, the hospital’s Public Relations Officer, said the labourers were standing under the central portion of the portico when the roof gave way. “It looks like the ceiling developed a crack before giving way. We are busy treating the labourers. We will speak to our engineers to understand what went wrong,” Deol told DH.

Family members anguished

Sharif, Rafiq’s brother-in-law, said the roof wouldn’t have collapsed had the engineer designed the canopy with columns. All of them worked for ‘Mestri’ Lal Saab who gave them work in different places, Sharif said.

Yumnabi, Pasha’s wife, said she got to know about the incident from Raja Baksh around 7 am. Police and doctors told them Pasha was injured but did not let them into the hospital to see him, she said.

Mohiddin’s wife Reshma said: “Neither the doctors nor the police are telling me about the exact condition of my husband or letting me see him. I have a daughter and I am worried about her future. He is the only breadwinner in the family.”

The labourers have been living with their families in Bengaluru for the last 10 years.