The strong winds in Mumbai, due to the cyclonic storm Vayu off the south-west coast of Mumbai, resulted in the death of a senior citizen in a freak accident in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The victim, Madhukar Narvekar, 62, had just exited the Churchgate railway station at 12.20 p.m. to go to Colaba, when the aluminium sheet used on the facade of the station fell on him and two others from the second floor of the building on the footpath along Maharishi Karve Road. While the other two escaped with minor injuries, Narvekar died at Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital (GT Hospital).
Narvekar, who retired from a garment store in Colaba last month, was going to collect his final dues. Railway officials said he was rushed to the hospital in a police patrol van. Dr. Amol Wagh, superintendent of GT hospital, said the post-mortem revealed that Narvekar died of injuries to his head and chest. “The victim had multiple linear abrasions over his chest on the side and was bleeding from his ear and nostril but no other external injury was found on his body,” Dr. Wagh, said.
In all, five aluminium panels fell on the footpath from the facade at the second and third floors of the building owing to high wind speeds. The police cordoned off the area after the first one fell on Narvekar. The Azad Maidan police station have registered a case of accidental death.
“An internal inquiry has been constituted to look into the incident and to probe what were the reasons behind the aluminium panels falling. An ex-gratia amount of ₹5 lakh has been announced for the family of the deceased,” Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway said.
