Bangalore: Tragedy struck a family of four here Tuesday when an under-construction Bangalore Metro pillar collapsed on them. The accident left a woman and her toddler son dead while her husband and another child escaped with injuries. According to police, the incident took place around 10.30am on Outer Ring Road near HBR Layout in the city, when the steel rod that was put up to erect the concrete pillar for the ‘Namma Metro’ (Bengaluru Metro) fell on their scooter. The height of the pillar is said to be over 40 feet and weighing several tonne.
The woman and her two-and-a-half year old son who were severely injured were immediately rushed to a nearby private hospital by the bystanders, but they succumbed to their injuries. “Both suffered head injuries, we tried our best to save them. There was lot of blood loss already and also fall in blood pressure,” doctors who treated them said. The woman’s husband, identified as Lohit and the other child, who were injured, are doing fine, doctors added.
‘Namma Metro’ and the Karnataka government announced compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the affected family.
Addressing reporters in Dharwad, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured an inquiry into the incident and announced compensation to the bereaved.
“I just got to know about it, we will get it investigated. We will ascertain the reason for the collapse of the pillar and provide compensation,” he said.
Bommai called the incident ‘unfortunate’ and said inquiry will be done and case will be registered against those responsible.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru East, Bheemashankar S Guled said that a case has been registered based on Lohit’s complaint and investigation will follow.
Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team has been called to do the mahajar and collect the samples, and based on their report it will be known if there was any negligence or shoddy work, Guled said.
Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) managing director Anjum Parvez who visited the spot described the incident as unfortunate. Indian Institute of Science has been requested to send a team to inspect and ascertain as to why the incident happened.
“According to report by our engineer all the safety measures were taken as per the standard protocol, but still the incident has happened, so we will have to do the fact finding. Whether there was any manual negligence or technical problem we will get to know from the report. If there was any manual negligence action will certainly be taken against those responsible,” Parvez said. He added that Rs 20 lakh compensation will be given to the family by the Metro Rail administration.