By IANS,
Mumbai: The body of a labourer was recovered Monday from the debris of an under-construction bridge that collapsed here last week, taking the toll from the tragedy to four.
Arun Kumar’s body was found as workers were clearing the debris from the site adjaced to the airpor, said a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Disaster Control official.
This raises the toll from Wednesday’s accident to four. Three others were killed when a 30-metre slab from the under-construction bridge fell while being hoisted by a crane. The construction was part of the showpiece Sahar Elevated Access Road near Mumbai Airport.
Three people were detained in connection with the accident, which raised questions on the safety of the mega project. It happened just four days after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan declared the Sahar Elevated Access Road among the mega-infrastructure projects that will change the face of Mumbai this year.
The bridge, part of the two-km Sahar Elevated Access Road, is coming up adjacent to the T2-terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and will be a vital link connecting the congested Western Express Highway direct to the airport.
This was the third incident of its kind hitting a major urban infrastructure project in the past six months. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has held Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) responsible for the crash.
“The (MMRDA) makes it clear that the MIAL is constructing the 1.5-km stretch from Hyatt Regency to International Airport Terminal-2, which is in the MIAL jurisdiction, where the accident has taken place. The MMRDA has no role to play as far as the construction of this stretch is concerned,” it said in a statement a day after the tragedy.