CHENNAI: Nine workers from Assam died when part of a space frame being erected for the roof of a coal-handling shed at the Ennore Thermal Power Station in Voyalur, Tiruvallur district, collapsed on Tuesday.
One more worker, named Mangal (36), also from Assam, has been admitted to the Government Stanley Medical College (GSMC) in Chennai, located around 50 kilometres from the project site.
Police sources identified the deceased as Munnakempral, Vidayum Pravotsha, Sumon Karikap, Deepak Raijiung, Sarbojit Thausen, Pranto Sorong, Paban Sorong, Phaibit Phonglo, and Bimaraj Thausen. The bodies were also taken to GSMC for postmortem, which is expected to take place on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) chairman J Radhakrishnan, who visited the spot, told TNIE that around ten persons were working at the particular portion of the space frame structure at a height of about 45 metres (roughly 150 feet) when the incident happened at around 5.45 pm.
Three grid bays of the space frame reportedly collapsed to the ground along with the nine workers involved in connecting them, killing them on the spot. The lone worker admitted to the hospital fortunately managed to hang on to the steel structure and was rescued later.
The workers were all employed by Metalkarma Engineering Technologies (MET), a private contractor engaged for the work by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which has taken up the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contract for Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited’s project to set up two coal-based units of 660 MW capacity each at the site.
Around 75% of the construction work has been completed so far, the chairman added. BHEL has engaged around 3,000 workers for various tasks, with many of them provided temporary housing near Minjur.
Radhakrishnan said investigations have been initiated to ascertain the cause of the incident and whether there was any negligence. He, however, said that preliminary enquiries and his visit to GSMC showed that the workers were wearing necessary safety gear.
Meanwhile, police executives from MET are expected to arrive on Tuesday night to meet the worker at the hospital and inspect the site for enquiry.
Sources from Avadi Police Commissionerate said that a case was being registered against the supervisory staff of MET for further investigation.
The last fatal accident at a thermal plant occurred at Mettur Thermal Power Station in Salem in December 2024, claiming the lives of two workers.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed deep sorrow over the incident and condolences to the families of the deceased.
Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased workers. He further said he had directed officials to make arrangements to take the bodies of the workers to Assam. He also said he had directed Minister for Transport and Electricity SS Sivasankar and Radhakrishnan to rush to the site to personally oversee relief operations.
Modi, in a post on X, said his thoughts were with the affected people and their families and that he prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the PM’s National Relief Fund to the families of the deceased. Those injured would be given Rs 50,000 each, he said.
(With inputs from Rajalakshmi Sampath)