CUTTACK: Several workers were injured, three of them critically, when a tower crane engaged in an under-construction 13-storey residential block of SCB Medical College and Hospital here, collapsed from a height of around 100 feet on Friday.
The three critically-injured workers Mubarak Ansari of Bihar and Dinabandhu Behera and Bansiraj Mallick of Odisha have been admitted to the Casualty of SCB MCH.
Dillip Das, project-in-charge of Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) Limited, the agency engaged by Odisha Bridge Construction Company (OBCC) Ltd on subcontract basis, said the mishap took place when the tower crane was being heightened. “Work on 12 storeys of the building was already completed. We were pinning for addition of a mast piece to heighten the tower crane. However, the process failed and the crane broke down and collapsed,” said Das.
Four persons were atop the crane and two other were at the base when it collapsed. Of them, three persons suffered injuries. The company will bear all expenses for their treatment, he said and added, “An internal inquiry will be carried out to find out the fault that led to the mishap.”
Law, Works and Excise Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan inspected the mishap site and met the injured victims. He said apart from free treatment, the injured workers will be adequately compensated. “The OBCC Ltd has been asked investigate the circumstances that led to the mishap and a submit report,” he added.
Locals said, around 50 workers were present at the site when the tower crane collapsed. Many workers have been injured in the incident. The security guards of NCC Limited even restricted entry to the site after the mishap, they alleged.