Two die as truck falls into pit at Metro Rail site

HYDERABAD: Two contract labourers working at a site on the ongoing Hyderabad Metro Rail project here died in the early hours of Thursday when a cement mixer lorry fell into one of the ditches dug for metro pier construction near Malakpet-Nalgonda crossroads.

The accident took place at around 3.30 a.m. when the lorry on its way from Guntur district to Mahbubnagar rammed into barricades on the road near the site in Malakpet area and fell into the pit dug up for construction of metro rail piers.

According to police, a major mishap was averted as at least 6 labourers were working inside the pit and a few others at the site had taken a break when the incident took place.

Additional DCP(East Zone) T Chandrasekhar said the accident took place due to the negligent driving of the lorry driver Kurmaiah (35). He sustained minor injuries and was shifted to Osmania General Hospital and later to a private hospital near Malakpet.

The deceased labourers were identified as Mumtaz Ansari (20) and Babulal Yadav(19), both natives of Jharkhand. The lorry rammed into the barricades as the driver fell asleep for a moment. The two workers who were crushed under the vehicle died instantaneously when it fell on them.

Locals pointed out that a similar incident took place in the same stretch when a lorry fell into a pit dug for pillar construction a couple of weeks ago while no casualties were reported.

Responding to that, NVS Reddy, HMR MD, said that there might be a number of reasons including drunk driving and fatigue that lead to such accidents.

'It is unfortunate that despite taking all precautions, such accidents take place. L&T constructions will take care of liberal compensations,' he added.

The accident also threw traffic haywire in the already congested Nalgonda crossroads, leaving office-goers and school students stranded.

Vehicles were queued up to Chaderghat bridge in the morning while the police had to divert traffic towards Malakpet flyover. The lorry was taken out out of the pit only by 12 noon.

An L&T metro rail official at the site pointed out that the workers were covered under insurance up to Rs 8 lakh and would also be given suitable compensation from the lorry owner.

'The driver might have taken a right turn to prevent ramming into the Malakpet flyover and as a result fell into the pit,' said the official.