17 workers were killed and three injured early Tuesday after a crane collapsed on a bridge slab during the construction of the third phase of the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district. According to the officials, the incident took place around 12 am near Sarlambe village in Shahpur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai. The crane that collapsed was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.
Soon after the incident, police, fire brigade and NDRF teams were deployed for rescue operations. The three people who were injured were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. There is a possibility of more people being trapped under the debris. The rescue operation is being carried out at the site,” Public Works Development Minister Dada Bhuse said after visiting the site of the accident on Tuesday morning. The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
It traverses 10 districts, including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane. The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. It covers a distance of 520 km. Chief minister Eknath Shinde said in May that the third and last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.