BENGALURU: In a horrendous accident due to a construction lapse that took place on Tuesday morning on the Outer Ring Road in the HBR Layout area, a mother and son met with a fatal accident when the skeletal structure of a Metro pillar fell on the two-wheeler they were riding pillion on.
The father and daughter on the same vehicle escaped unscathed with almost no injuries, said a source at the Altius Hospital, located just in front of the accident site.
Tejaswini Sulakhe (28) and Vihan (2.5 years) who were seated behind met an untimely end while Vihan's twin sister and father Lohith seated in the front half of the vehicle survived. "A steel metro rod (TMT bar) which was descending had hit the two seated behind on their head and face causing their instant death. It must have been in a flash of a second," said an individual familiar with the developments.
The accident happened around 10:45 am.
The duo was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital by the bystanders, but the woman and her son succumbed to their injuries.
The reinforcement structure runs to a height of 40 feet and has 60 steel rods in it.
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The family resides at Horamavu-Kalakere in Bengaluru.
Contractor NCC Ltd was carrying out work for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited on this Package one of the KR Puram-KIA Line (Phase 2B Airport Line) when the mishap occurred.
BMRCL MD, Anjum Parwez, who visited the spot, explained how it occurred. "The temporary staging work for the reinforcement (skeletal structure) was being carried out with four steel pipes on each side. One of the pipes gave way and the tall structure suddenly tilted to one side of the road and hit the family passing by at that moment."
"This is the first time this kind of accident has happened. Work will be stopped for two days on this stretch and we will go back to the drawing board to redesign such tall structures," he said.
Billing it as "very unfortunate", the MD announced a total compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the deceased. "We will bear hospital expenses and any other support the family wants. This is just a token gesture and we will never be able to compensate the family for the loss," he said.
Addressing reporters in Dharwad, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured an inquiry into the incident and compensation to the bereaved. "I just got to know about it, we will get it investigated. We will ascertain the reason for the collapse of the pillar and provide compensation," he said.
The busy Ring Road was completely jammed for nearly two hours and the cascading effect was felt well beyond afternoon with all vehicles moving extremely slowly along the road.
The bodies were shifted to the Dr Ambedkar Hospital for postmortem.
(With online desk inputs)