CHENNAI: A 45-year-old contract worker died after a machine malfunctioned at a private fertiliser company in Ennore on Saturday evening. The deceased was identified as G Dharanitharan of Tiruvallur, who had been working at the company for the past one-and-a-half-year.
According to the Ennore police, Dharanitharan was working on the inside of the machinery when it malfunctioned, causing its conveyor belt to move abruptly. “He sustained severe spinal injuries and collapsed,” a police officer said.
Fellow workers rushed him to Government Stanley Hospital where he was declared dead. The police recovered the body and sent it for autopsy. “Based on a complaint, we have registered a case and a probe is under way to ascertain whether any safety lapses led to the accident. The contractor is being questioned,” the police officer added.
Meanwhile, the company is in talks with the victim’s family with regard to compensation. Dharanitharan is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son, the police said.
This is the second industrial accident this week within Chennai and its outskirts. On Tuesday, a 24-year-old worker from Bihar died and seven others were injured after a boiler exploded at a scrap recycling unit in the SIPCOT Industrial Estate located in Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur.