Two workers were killed and two others seriously injured after a 40-metre crane toppled at a construction site in Textile Park, MHADA Colony, opposite Geeta Mandir, under Ganeshpeth Police Station, on Friday morning. The accident took place between 10.30 and 11 am when workers were extending the height of the crane. During the process, the crane reportedly got imbalanced and collapsed. The upper portion fell from a height of nearly 100 feet and crashed into another crane.

 

The impact left four workers injured and triggered panic at the construction site. The deceased have been identified as Vishwanath Kathane (40), a resident of Gondia, and Mukesh Nishad (25), who hailed from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh. The injured workers are Manturam (26) and Mahesh Mistri (28), both residents of Balrampur in Chhattisgarh. One of the injured workers, Manturam, was trapped in the crane after the collapse. Fire brigade personnel from the Fire Station carried out a rescue operation. Firefighter Nilesh Tethe climbed the crane and brought him down with the help of a stretcher. Driver-operator Ganesh Rajurkar was part of the rescue team.

 

The injured worker was shifted to hospital by ambulance. The crane was being used for the construction of commercial units under a MHADA project. B J Shirke Company is executing the work. Vivek Pagare is the project manager, while Ramji Prajapati was operating the crane. Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone III Rahul Madne said an Accidental Death case had been registered at Ganeshpeth police station. Police are investigating whether the accident occurred due to a technical fault or human error. Investigators will examine whether the crane underwent a proper technical inspection before being put to use, whether it was regularly maintained and whether adequate safety arrangements were made. Police will also question MHADA engineers, government supervising engineers and company officials. The police will further examine the role of the contractor and the safety procedures followed during the height-extension work. The absence of CCTV cameras at the site has also emerged as a concern, as no footage is available to establish the exact sequence of events.