13.07.2026

Crane or excavator?

A number of readers have sent us information about a tragic incident that occurred in the Puzhal area of Chennai, India, on Saturday evening.

From limited contact with our local sources, it seems as though an excavator was lifting a large sewer pipe with a web sling, which broke, dropping the pipe, which struck a man and his three year old son, as they were riding past on a motorcycle, en route to a local shop. The son, Sharuk Eeswaran, died from his injuries in hospital a few hours later. The father, Vignesh, escaped with minor injuries.

Local news sources are mind-numbingly contradictory. A CCTV video looking out from the inside of a shop, which appears to show a bundle of steel tubes falling, looks beyond suspicious, and in our mind cannot be relied upon.

Social media and local news outlets have clearly put two and two together and obtained a wide range of results. Some claim it was a crane, some an excavator and some an ‘excavator crane’. As to the load, it varies from a large sewer pipe to a steel plate.

We are fairly confident that it was not a crane, but cannot be certain. Whatever was used to lift the load - pipe or plate - a worn, damaged or undersized sling was the culprit, on that everyone appears to agree.

Five people are being questioned by the police investigation, including a sub-contractor, project manager and his deputy, a supervisor and an excavator operator.

The following video is an extensive news bulletin which includes the video footage


Vertikal Comment

The tragedy here is that a young boy has lost his life, and a family is deeply traumatised, that is inexcusable on so many levels. From cordoning off, slings specifying and checking to the type of machine used. Hopefully, the full facts of this case will come out and help the country further improve its safe working practices.

In the meantime, watch the operator get all the blame!