Slab of metro bridge collapses

Mumbai: A slab from a metro bridge which is under-construction on the crowded Andheri-Kurla Road collapsed killing one person and injuring 11 people, according to a fire service official.

Four ambulances took the injured to the nearby Seven Hills Hospital and five fire brigade vehicles arrived at the site to remove the debris where several people are feared trapped, said the official.

The mishap happened when a 50-metre section of the metro bridge came crashing near Hotel Leela, where the road leads to the airport. “The accident happened when the concreting of the staircase was being done,” said Veena Chiplunkar, a spokesperson for the Reliance Infrastructure-led consortium that is building the metro.

The spokesperson also said: “We deeply regret the accident that has happened at the Airport Station Metro site, which is being constructed by our contractor HCC. Our emergency response team along with HCC staff is at the site to provide rescue and relief services which is the top most and immediate priority for us.”

For Mumbaikars still reeling under the harrowing time they faced after the unusually heavy downpour on Monday, this accident comes as a shock. “I’m so disturbed by this accident since my husband and I live in this locality and have to travel beneath the under-construction bridge,” said Karen Coelho, a resident of Marol. With a huge network of projects — metro, monorail and elevated roads — under construction across Mumbai, people are disturbed and worried by this incident.

This incident occurred during peak hours and severely disrupted traffic movement. Police are going through a tough time not only in keeping curious crowds away from the accident site but also in ensuring a quicker flow of traffic.

Workers are also worried about the danger of working at the site since the rains have been blamed for the collapse. The collapsed slab is part of the much-delayed 12km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor of the Mumbai Metro. In April this year, a part of 400-tonne crane fell off a truck in which it was being carried and crashed in to the Sarvodaya Hospital in Ghatkopar. In July, a construction worker fell to his death while building the Andheri section of this line.