CHENNAI: A 34-year-old worker was crushed to death when a portion of the compound wall of the crematorium in Ramapuram collapsed on him on Wednesday.
Ganapathy from Ranipet had been working on the storm water drainage along Thiruvalluvar Salai in the area for the last two days. According to officials, the workers had been working on it until 1 am on Wednesday.
At 5 am, he was woken up from the temporary labour shed set up for workers nearby and asked to come to the site since the concrete load had arrived. “He had been engaged in setting the concrete when a portion of the compound wall collapsed on him. It looks like the wall had already soaked up water from the rain on Tuesday and the excavation adjacent to it further unseated it, leading to its collapse,” said an official. The excavation was carried out to a depth of two metres for the drain.
Corporation officials said that they were investigating how the accident took place. “The on-site supervisor should have assessed the risks before allowing the excavation in the area,” said a corporation official.
After an inquiry, the Ramapuram police booked engineer Manimurasu and supervisor Jenith Maran for death due to negligence. Further probe is on.
Last month, a guest worker from West Bengal died in a similar accident at RA Puram. With the North-East monsoon set to begin from October, the city corporation has been carrying out storm water construction works across the city in full swing.