A labourer died and 11 others were injured when a lift, carrying construction material, fell while they were inside it at a Delhi Development construction site in outer Delhi’s Narela on Thursday morning, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said a team was sent to the spot following a PCR call regarding the incident.

“It was found that a wire of the lift, which is used for transporting construction material, had broken,” he said adding that 12 injured persons were rushed to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital from where 35-year-old Sandesh was shifted to Lok Nayak Hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

Three injured persons are said to be critical at a private hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

One of the injured, who did not wish to be named, said at 8 a.m., about five-six of them took the lift to reach the eighth floor while a couple of them were standing downstairs.

On the fifth floor

He said when they reached the fifth floor, the safety belt broke and all of them fell down. “The building has 24 floors. Thankfully, we were on the fifth floor at that time else if we had fallen from upper floors, many of us could have died,” he said.

The labourer alleged that there is another lift inside the building, which is in a better condition, but they are not allowed to use it.

The DDA said construction of EWS and category II houses was under way at that time and it is being executed by Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Ltd.

“The DDA has directed the contractor to pay suitable compensation under relevant labour law to the family of the deceased and the injured,” a statement by them read.

The Superintending Engineer of the DDA has been entrusted an enquiry into the safety lapses at the site. Mr. Sharma said a case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered against the contractor and the construction company.