1 dead, 1 hurt in car lift crash at under-construction tower

Mumbai: A hydraulic car parking lift collapsed into a 7-mt-deep pit at an under construction ground-plus-21 storey tower in Borivli (west) at 11.08 am on Saturday, leaving one person dead and another injured. A criminal offence will be registered against the lift contractor, the police said. an accidental death recorded.Two workers had rushed to take cover under one of the hydraulic lifts as it had started raining when it snapped. A metal cable could have snapped, causing the crash from 4.3 mt, trapping two of the labourers. Fire brigade officials rescued the two — Shubham Dhuria (22) who was later declared dead, and Sanchit Yadav (45) — who has sustained injuries but his condition is stable.Dhuria's neck and legs were caught up between the lift and its shaft, making it difficult to pull him out, said a fire brigade official. Yadav was conscious while being taken to hospital. He has sustained a head injury and has been referred him for a CT scan.The injured worker said he was at the building to deliver plywood when the lift crashed. "It all happened so quickly that neither me nor the other worker had any time to react or escape," he told TOI from Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, Kandivali. The incident took place at Avyukta Breeze (formerly Om Prathamesh Bldg), a residential building located on New Link Road. No home owner has moved into the building yet as possession has not been handed over, said an officer from MHB Colony police station.Locals from nearby building who rushed to the site spoke about hearing screams after the crash. "The security at the building gate wasn't letting anyone in. In fact, a relative of one of the workers scaled the wall of an adjacent building to enter," a local said. Fire officials and the police reached there at 11.25 am.Shopkeepers in the locality said the former structure, Om Prathamesh, was a four- storey building and its redevelopment began three years ago. A local said that much of the redevelopment work has been completed.The injured worker, who owns a plywood shop at Tilak Nagar, said it was his first day at work The deceased worked for a company that had installed elevators in the building. Former corporator Tejaswi Ghosalkar said the worker who died lived in Naigaon and is survived by his ailing mother whom he supported. Ghosalkar questioned construction quality at the building. "There have been other incidents that have been hushed up. It's only now, after a death has occurred, that the issue has come out," she said.