Kerala - Kochi   

Construction worker falls to death, another injured

KOCHI: A worker at a construction site at Tripunithura fell to his death and another was seriously injured while working on a high-rise building.

Sameer, 21, who died and Amit Sarkar, 20, who was injured belong to West Bengal. While Sameer is said to have died on the spot, Amit is admitted to Lakeshore Hospital with serious injuries.

Royal Group promoter M.D. Unnikrishnan said word had been sent to the workers’ relatives.

He said that safety measures had been provided to the workers but could not be sure if they had taken the precautions as the accident had occurred just as work was beginning in the morning.

According to the case registered by the police, the workers fell from the second floor of the construction site called Royal Palace, a project of the Royal Group, at Eroor, near North Fort, Tripunithura. However, workers at the site said the duo fell from the 10th floor of the 11-storeyed building.

The accident reportedly occurred when Sameer slipped while taking off the planks for concreting the sunshade of a window and hit a concrete slab over a septic tank on the ground.

Amit, who tried to catch Sameer, also fell in the process. His fall was broken when he hit another sunshade on a lower floor.

Trade unions alleged that workers were not given any helmets or safety belts. There were only a few helmets at the site. These were used by workers when clients reached the construction site, a trade union leader said.

The safety of the workers was one of the demands made by them during a strike in May, he said.

While most builders now assured safety belts, safety nets and helmets, a few did not provide these measures, he said.

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