The accident that claimed the life of a Metro Rail worker near the Chennai Central station on Saturday happened when workers were trying to align a rebar (reinforcement steel) to a vertical position.
Fourteen persons were trying to align the rebar for constructing the underground structure for the Metro Rail station.
According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the rebar runs to a length about 6 metres, weighing 20 kg/m.
Taken to pvt. hospital
“The workers did wear their safety gear and other safety precautions were in place. We are in the process of finding out how it happened,” an official said.
One of the close relatives of the deceased was among the 14 workers carrying the rebar, he added.
The incident took place underground, opposite the Central railway station and adjacent to the Park Station. Though the accident occurred very close to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, the worker was taken all the way to a private hospital in Parry’s Corner. According to officials, the decision to admit the injured worker to the private hospital was taken as it had all the facilities.
Three levels
The Central Metro Rail Station has three levels going as deep as 28 metres below the ground and hundreds of workers are employed for construction work round the clock.
The work is on in full swing as officials want the underground stretch from Thirumangalam to Chennai Central ready by the end of the year.
Construction began nearly five years ago. But, tunnelling work got over only recently and construction of the station is under way, officials said.
This Metro Rail station will see the merger of two corridors — one from Washermanpet and the other from Nehru Park.
