11.01.2014

Fatal crane incident Chennai Metro

One man died and another was injured when a crawler crane overturned at a metro construction site in Saidapet, Chennai, India today.
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The overturned crane

The 70 tonne crane was said to be lifting a 22 tonne counterweight and was slewing to load it onto a trailer when it overturned. The boom landed on welder Ranjith Biswal, 20, killing him outright, while Tira Nayak, 19, was trapped by his leg and was taken to hospital with a serious fracture which has resulted in the leg being amputated.

Work has been suspended while an investigation looks into the cause for the incident, the crane operator aged 34, has been charged along with the crane supervisor. The contractor involved is Gammon, which has said that the crane was in good working order and that it is co-operating with the investigation.
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The crane was said to have been lifting a load of around 25 tonnes

India’s metro construction programme has seen numerous fatal crane incidents in Delhi, Bangalore and only last year a similar incident occurred in Chennai, when a man was killed and six injured after a crawler crane dropped its load - see: Fatal Crane incident in Chennai.
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A view the day after the incident

UPDATE
The investigation by Gammon India suggests that the operator, Kathiravan, 34, lifted the 22 tonnes at a nine metre radius which was too much for the crane, or at the every least very close to its limits. He then slewed the crane too quickly, thereby increasing the load radius and adding a dynamic loading, the two of which were sufficient to take the crane over.