HYDERABAD: In a freak accident, a massive heavy duty crane toppled and fell sideways at 90 degrees while attempting to install a girder on the Shaikpet flyover in the early hours of Tuesday.
The incident which occurred at 3 am led to the death of a 45-year-old crane operator Guruprith Singh from Punjab, who had been hired by the contractor for SRDP works on the Shaikpet flyover.
According to eyewitnesses and officials, the crane of 150-tonne capacity lost its balance while it began lifting the girder which was 50-tonnes.
Though the driver noticed that the crane was losing balance and tried to manoeuvre it, the crane began shifting onto its right side where the road was inclined. “In a bid to save himself he jumped out of the crane, but the girder fell on him and he was crushed. He was shifted to Osmania hospital but was declared dead on arrival,” the SHO of Golconda said.
A case has been registered under Section 304 (A) of the IPC for death by negligence against the contractor following a complaint by the kin of the deceased. They alleged that the contractor M Venkata Rao Infra did not take precautions to ensure the safety of the operator. Mayor announced a compensation of `12 lakh to the kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, when the crane toppled road under the right wheel of the crane caved in. An electric transformer beside the road was also damaged. Luckily enough there were no residential buildings except a private function hall, whose boundary walls have been damaged by the impact. Traffic in the area was greatly affected due to the incident as one side of the road had to be cordoned off. Several personnel from the traffic police were deployed on the spot. Traffic was diverted from Mehdipatnam, Nanalnagar, Tolichowki to prevent bottlenecks at Biodiversity and dargah.
However, as the incident happened on the arterial road, several buses services connecting east and west zone were affected throwing traffic haywire for a few hours.