Woman killed, two injured in Mumbai as part of a crane collapses

The driver of the crane lost control over it when it was going towards Bandra from Jogeshwari

A 26-year-old woman was crushed to death and two others injured when a trolley of a speeding crane got separated and collapsed near a bus-stop in the western suburb of Andheri here on Saturday, police said.

The accident took place at around 6 am near Gundavali bus stop on Western Express Highway, after the driver of the crane, which was heading towards Dadar from Jogeshwari, lost control, an official said.

The trolley of the crane got separated and hit Chandivali resident Falguni Patel and two others, and also damaged an autorickshaw and a Metro rail pillar nearby, the official said.

Patel, who was waiting with her cousin close to the bus stop, died on the spot, while the injured persons were rushed to a hospital, he said.

An FIR under section 279 (rash driving), 304(A) (death by negligence) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and Motor Vehicle Act has been registered against crane driver Vinod Yadav, who fled the scene after the accident, he said.

Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is carrying out the Metro Rail work in the city, said a puller axel crane of Metro Line 2A (DN Nagar to Dahisar) had a technical failure.

The locking pin between the puller and axel was broken and the latter swung uncontrollably resulting in a fatal collision with a woman, it stated.

A three-member committee has been constituted for a detailed investigation, which will be headed by project director P R K Murthy and the report is expected within two days, the MMRDA tweeted.

While the vehicle was not executing any MMRDA Metro Line work at the place of accident that time, it was returning from the Metro Line 2A construction site and the contractor of the same has been notified and will be penalised for negligence and damage, it was stated.

The incident near the NCC package project site has also resulted in the damage of pier 50 of package 91 (Line 7) and appropriate actions will be taken against the vehicle owner for these damages to Metro Line 7.