Five engineers hurt in freak mishap at Navi Mumbai airport site

Cidco officials say the victims were hurt when pieces of loose rock fell on them

Five engineers overseeing rock blasting at the construction site of Navi Mumbai airport were injured in a freak accident on Saturday.

Pre-development work, including flattening of a hillock and land fill have been underway to prepare the site for airport construction for the past three months. Saturday's accident  took place in Ulwe area in Navi Mumbai.

According to officials from City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the engineers were hurt when pieces of  loose rock fell on them. "The engineers were in a safe zone which is 300-350 metres from the hillock but some loose rock came off and fell in a matter of seconds. Safety is of paramount importance and we will take further steps to prevent such accidents," an official said. Two engineers were admitted in a local hospital and three discharged after treatment. The GVK group, which is carrying out pre-development work in Ulwe, claimed that the accident took place after three of its engineers fell on rocky terrain.

"This afternoon, when blasting at the site was in progress, three personnel supervising the blasts misjudged their footing and fell on the rocky terrain, which caused injuries to them. All three were hospitalised as a precautionary measure and are stable now," a GVK spokesperson said.