Mumbai: Metro bridge slab collapses; one dead, 11 injured

One person was killed and 11 others were injured when a slab of a staircase of an under-construction Metro railway station collapsed here Tuesday, officials said.

"One person is dead, while 11 others are injured and admitted to two hospitals of the area," an official from city's civic disaster control room told IANS.

The incident took place on Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro line in Andheri east late afternoon, officials said.

The deceased has been identified as Umesh Sahu, 35. D. Bhuvan, the spokesperson of Seven Hills Hospital had earlier confirmed the death.

Five out of the 11 injured were pulled out from under the debris as the slab of a stairway being built to climb on to the Metro rail station collapsed.

Rahul Asthana, the commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is constructing the Metro rail along with Reliance Infrastructure visited the accident site and said that a probe will be ordered into the collapse of the slab.

In a statement, Reliance Infrastructure which is constructing the Metro railway said that its emergency response team was at the site for rescue operation and that the accident at the site is deeply regretted.

The collapsed bridge is part of the much-delayed 12-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor of the Mumbai Metro.

Meanwhile, Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale criticized the contractors and demanded a compensation for those injured in the accident.

"A compensation of Rs.25 lakh should be given to the dead in the accident by the government. A high level inquiry should also be conducted in to it and the contractor should be blacklisted," he said.

RTI activist Anil Galgali who has pointed out the discrepancies and the delay in the construction of the Metro rail said that the construction work should be stopped immediately and should be resumed only after a structural audit.