Three injured as crane at Metro site overturns on Mount-Poonamallee Road

Police official says a reinforcement cage being carried by the crane fell on an MTC bus; driver and conductor of the bus, and equipment operator injured as iron rods fall on the vehicle

The bus that was damaged by the iron rods at the Metro Rail site on Mount-Poonamallee Road in Ramapuram. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Three persons were seriously injured during an accident near a Metro Rail site on Mount-Poonamallee Road in Ramapuram on Tuesday.

A senior official of the City Traffic Police said the accident involved a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus and a crane. At 4.15 a.m. on Tuesday, when the construction work for raising pillars for the phase II project of Metro Rail was in progress at Ramapuram, a reinforcement cage fell on an MTC bus. This ongoing work is for building an elevated viaduct that is part of the Madhavaram-Shollinganallur stretch of the phase II project.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), two workers were moving the reinforcement cage (which is usually used for the construction of a pillar) from the crane to the trailer. Since the trailer was operating outside the barricade, there was a safety vehicle stationed in front (to alert vehicles on the road about the ongoing work).

“While it was being moved, the crane carrying the reinforcement cage wobbled. At this time, a bus rammed into the reinforcement cage and dragged it along,” an official said. The crane, transporting heavy metal rods for the construction of piers, turned turtle, and the iron rods it was carrying fell on the MTC bus heading from Kundrathur to Alandur depot on Mount-Poonamallee Road.

In the impact, the bus crew – driver Ayyadurai and conductor Bhoopalan – and crane operator Ranjith were seriously injured and rushed to a private hospital in Mugalivakkam for treatment. “While the conductor went through a minor surgery and was subsequently discharged, the crane operator is still undergoing treatment. The bus driver has been shifted to another hospital in Porur and is likely to be there for a day,” he added.

The Pondy Bazaar traffic investigation police upon being alerted rushed to the spot and rescued the injured along with the MTC staff in the bus. A case has been filed, and an investigation is on, an official added. It is to be noted that earlier this month, a pile rig fell over the flyover at Retteri but no one was injured in this incident.