BENGALURU: A 31-year-old service mechanic at the Metro construction site died after a speeding truck crashed into a container shed in which he was sleeping after hitting a barricade. The incident took place at the upcoming Metro station at Jyothipura (Tin Factory) on Old Madras Road on Saturday morning and traffic was thrown out of gear for a while following the incident. The deceased Sonu Singh Saini hailed from Delhi and was working with an agency that does work for Metro.
A senior police officer said the incident occurred around 4.30 am when the truck, overloaded with quarry dust, was heading towards the city from Hoskote. Truck driver Ramanjaneya was speeding and crashed into the barricade that covers the Metro construction pit and into the container where Saini was inside.
The impact is said to have been so severe that the metal container with Saini inside it was dragged for about 40 feet and was completely mangled.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) workers at the spot had to later use a gas cutter to remove Saini’s body from the metal container. It took more than an hour and the traffic movement was affected on the main road and KR Puram flyover as well. Saini was an employee of Kolmat India, a vendor of ITD CEM India JV, which was on a contract for BMRCL at the Metro station.
ITD CEM India JV has filed a complaint with the jurisdictional police against the reckless driving which has caused extensive damage to property besides taking Saini’s life.
His first day at work turned tragic
“Saini had come to repair a power generator system at the site. An agency had sent him to the site for the service and it was his first day at work here. We are gathering more information about his family. He was sleeping (inside the container) when the mishap took place and passers-by alerted KR Puram traffic police, who rushed to the spot and removed the truck from the Metro site. Truck driver Ramanjaneya is recovering in a hospital as he too was severely injured in the mishap. A case of reckless driving has been filed against him and further investigations are on”, the police said.
“We are waiting for Saini’s family members to arrive. The post-mortem will be conducted on Sunday at Bowring hospital. The statements of eyewitnesses were recorded to take action against the driver. We are not ruling out that he (the driver) was under the influence of alcohol. The medical test report is yet to arrive and the truck owner also will be booked for negligence as the truck was overloaded with sand and it was spilling on the road,” the police said.
Reckless driving
Mahendra Jain, managing director, BMRCL, who visited the accident spot, said the mishap was caused “only due to reckless driving”. The area is well-lit, he said. “The place where the work was taking place is properly barricaded with blinkers too,” Jain said. The compensation for Saini’s family will be decided
shortly, he said.