CHENNAI: A night of celebration took a fatal turn when the ramp at the corridor of an abandoned make-shift accommodation of a private company collapsed, leaving one dead and 34 men injured around 11.30 pm on Sunday.
All the 35 migrant labourers of the firm had gathered at the structure to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) final match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GI).
The deceased has been identified as Manjhi, 31, a native of Jharkhand. He sustained critical injuries in the fall, and was rushed to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
He died due to his injuries in the early hours of Monday, the police said. A police officer said as RCB won the title, the group had erupted in celebration, destabilising the structure, leading to its collapse.
The police claimed the structure which gave way was abandoned by the company since it was deemed unfit for use. An alternative accommodation for the workers was constructed nearby.
On Sunday evening, however, around 35 workers, all staying at the new temporary housing facility set up by the firm in Ramapuram, had brought food from outside and gathered in the unused structure to dine while watching the match on mobile phones. They were seated at the long stretch of the corridor ramp and the landing of the adjoining staircase, all made of iron.
The corridor and its adjoining ramp gave way under the weight of the workers, and several workers fell from a height of nearly 15 feet, landing on top of one another. Following the collapse, the residents and fellow workers launched rescue efforts before alerting police. The Nandambakkam police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Guindy and a private hospital in Porur.
The 850-odd workers of the private company hail primarily from Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. They were among those working at the L&T construction site at Ramapuram.
