Boy’s Death In Mohakhali: Expressway worker arrested
Police yesterday arrested a worker of the Dhaka elevated expressway project after a site manager sued him for negligence that led to the death of a 12-year-old boy near Mohakhali level-crossing on Monday.
Hasib Hasan, site manager (Banani and Mohakhali), filed the case with Dhaka Railway Police Station, accusing Muhammad Hasan, 32.
The victim, who is yet to be identified, was near the railway lines when the five to six feet long rod held by the accused fell and landed on the boy's head, according to the complaint.
Hasib mentioned that the accused was taking the rod from one place to another on the elevated expressway at the time.
However, several witnesses and shopkeepers in the area said the authorities were negligent in securing their construction site.
During a visit to the site, this correspondent also saw that no measures were taken to keep objects from accidentally falling to the ground.
Hours after the rod fell on the boy around 9:30am, people were seen walking under the expressway while construction work was in progress overhead.
An expressway worker, who was about 100 yards away from the spot where the boy was fatally hit, said, "No one was there to keep people away from the place where the work was going on.
"We only restrict people's movement when girder segments or viaducts are lifted… The authorities usually do not take adequate measures when doing regular tasks."
Meanwhile, the First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company Ltd in a statement last night said its construction sites conformed to the local and international guidelines and met the standards.
However, it was an "incident of thievery" that led to the boy's death. "The deceased was involved in thievery. He was assisting a syndicate of workers who were trying to steal the project's steel rod. They were throwing rods from the top of the Elevated Expressway. Unfortunately, one of the steel rods fell and hit his head," read the statement.
"We are committed to supporting the investigation and fully cooperating with the relevant authorities…"
Rights activist Nur Khan Liton said the case filed by the authorities against a worker is an attempt to shift the blame.
"Anything can accidentally fall. But one has to check whether there are adequate safety measures to prevent tragedies. I think one single worker should not be blamed," he told The Daily Star.
Contacted, Hasib, the manager who filed the case, said the worker was accused because the rod fell from his hand.
There was no negligence on the part of the authorities, he added.
Sub-inspector Sekandar Ali of Dhaka Railway Police Station, who is investigating the case, said, "We are trying to identify the boy. No one has claimed the body at the Dhaka Medical College morgue."
On August 15 last year, five people were killed after a segment of a box girder of the BRT project fell on a car at the Jasimuddin Road intersection on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
Officials of the construction firm, China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd, and a crane operator were sued for the deaths. Rab later arrested nine people.
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