After eight hours of careful planning and execution, fire and rescue services personnel rescued a worker who was trapped under racks stacked with fruit cartons that crashed at a warehouse near the city on Monday. Three other workers, who were also trapped, were rescued immediately.
The workers, all from Assam, were trapped inside the warehouse of a company engaged in the import and export of fruits. The private godown is located on Mettupalayam Road near Avadi, and has a cold storage facility.
N. Sivasankaran, station officer, Avadi Range, said they received a call on Monday night that four workers were trapped inside the godown. His team reached the spot within 15 minutes, around 8 p.m.
While the fire and rescue services personnel were able to rescue three persons immediately — Aarif, Jarul, and Sayed Huq — they found that Haidul Huq was trapped under several racks stacked with fruit cartons. The situation demanded careful handling as any mistep could have crushed the worker, said Mr. Sivasankaran.
Rushed to hospital
They used an excavator to remove a portion of the warehouse wall to make way for the rescuers. They then removed the racks one by one and the worker was rescued on Tuesday morning, eight hours from the time he got trapped. He was rushed to a private hospital. The Avadi police have filed a case and are investigating the cause of the accident.
