Worker crushed to death as concrete beam collapses

KOCHI: It was one of the major daunting tasks undertaken by officials of the Fire and Rescue Services Department in the recent times in Kochi as they retrieved the body of a 22-year-old worker from the 14th floor of a multi-storeyed building under construction at Panampilly Nagar after a beam collapsed on Thursday.Fire officials said the two-hour-long operation was highly risky considering the fact that the body was trapped in the scaffolding and none had an idea about the extent of damage caused by the collapsed beam. 

Sanjeev Singh, alias Birju, of West Bengal got trapped between the collapsed beam and the scaffolding and died. The incident occurred at the construction site of Galaxy Homes behind the Regional Passport Office at Panampilly Nagar. Officials said a concrete beam on the 14th floor collapsed and got stuck on the scaffolding raised for plastering work. 

An eyewitness and a resident of Panampilly Nagar said he saw the accident from a nearby supermarket around 11.30am. “There was a noise when I was coming out of the supermarket. I saw three or four workers running helter-skelter on the terrace of the building. I could hear someone crying in severe pain. Soon, I called the Gandhi Nagar fire station and a rescue team reached the site in 10 minutes,” he said.

Fire station head T B Ramakrishnan said when his team reached the spot, the death was almost confirmed. “The workers, including the deceased person, were on the scaffolding when the beam collapsed. While a few workers managed to escape unhurt, Sanjeev Singh got stuck between the scaffolding and the beam. In fact, the concrete structure landed on his chest. When we reached, we saw his legs dangling from the scaffold,” he said. Ramakrishnan said officers Babu V V and V P Sunil risked their lives to recover the body. 

“The body was hanging from the edge of the scaffolding. We had no idea how we could recover the body from such a height. Our officials made a plan and created a two-sq-ft hole on the parapet. Later, the beam was tightened using a rope to prevent it from collapsing any further. We also used pneumatic airbags to give extra support. Through the hole, our officers sneaked down and cut the iron pipe of the scaffolding to release the body. It took two hours of operation,” he said. The body was moved to Ernakulam General Hospital and  will be released after the postmortem. A case has been registered at Ernakulam South police station.