NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said a departmental inquiry committee had been instituted to establish the cause behind the collapse of a crane at Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam that left 11 people dead.
"Extremely anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident at HSL facility in Vishakhapatnam(AP)," Singh tweeted. "My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly," he said. "Departmental Enquiry Committee has been instituted to establish the causes leading to the accident."
Earlier in the day, a massive 70-tonne crane under trial run in the HSL at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh came crashing down, crushing 11 people to death in the first such mishap in the public sector ship-building company's 75-year-old existence.
Four of the victims were HSL employees, including a supervisor, while the seven others were workers of three contracting agencies, District Collector V Vinay Chand told reporters after inspecting the accident site.
All the deceased who came under the falling iron mass, rail-mounted and known as jetty crane for being on a ramp to handle cargo, were killed on the spot.
TV visuals showed the equipment collapsing on the ground with a loud thud after its cabin and base snapped during the trial run. The new crane was erected at the HSL about two years ago but was not yet commissioned for regular operations due to change in contractors.