5 Bihar workers crushed as Pune mall slab crashes, PM grieves

Pune, Feb 4 (IANS) At least five migrant labourers, all from Bihar, were crushed to death and five others injured when the slab of an under-construction mall-cum-commercial building crashed in Pune's Shastrinagar area late on Thursday night, officials said on Friday.

The Pune police have filed cases against the builders of the Blue Grass Business Park, the site supervisor, labour contractors and others in connection with the incident, following a complaint by co-worker, Mohammed Nahid Master.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declared an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of all the deceased workers, and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

In a message, Nitish Kumar said that he was pained to learn of the death of the five labourers all hailing from Bihar's Katihar.

Around 11 p.m. on Thursday, a mesh of steel rods for building a reinforced concrete slab at the basement level of the mall site in Yerawada partly caved in suddenly on the 10 labourers working below, said Chief Fire Officer Sunil Gilbile.

While 5 workers were trapped and crushed by the weight of the steel and concrete, the remaining 5 others were hurt, some seriously, in the incident and they have been admitted to the Sassoon Hospital, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohidas Pawar.

Pune Collector Rajesh Deshmukh has set up a high-level probe committee to investigate the disaster.

While the angry kin of the deceased blamed the site contractor for alleged lapses leading to the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi grieved the loss of the lives in the Pune incident.

"Pained by the mishap at an under-construction building in Pune. Condolences to the bereaved families. I hope that all those injured in this mishap recover at the earliest," Modi said.

The workers who perished in the tragedy are: Sohel Mohammed, 23, Tajib Alam, 40, Mohammed Shamim, 30, Shabub Alam, 35, Mobid Mohammed, 40.

The injured admitted to a government hospital for treatment are: Alam Ibrahim, Faeem Qurban, Rafique Alam and Sahil M. Muslim, besides Master.