Samruddhi Expressway: 15 Workers Dead After Gantry Crane Machine Assembled For Bridge Construction In Thane District Collapses

At least 14 workers were killed as a gantry crane machine assembled for bridge construction in the third phase of Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district collapsed and fell on them.

The accident took place in early hours on Tuesday near Sarlambe village in Shahpur tehsil of Thane district.

"Till now 15  dead bodies have been retrieved and 3 have been injured. Another six are feared to be trapped inside the collapsed structure," said NDRF official.

Police and fire brigade personnel along with local agencies are currently engaged in rescue operation, multiple local media outlets reported.

Gantry crane machines are assembled and deployed in infrastructure projects to install precast box girders in highway and high-speed rail bridge construction projects.

The Samruddhi Mahamarg is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur. It traverses ten districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane.

Around 600 km of the expressway is already operational and MSRDC (Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation) aims to open the third and last phase by the end of December this year.

Both the remaining under-construction packages(15 and 16) are being executed by Navayuga Engineering Company. While package 15 pertains to a 28 km stretch from Vashala to Birwadi, package 16 covers a 37 km alignment from Birwadi to Amne. Both packages are in the Thane district.