Falling container kills man under Dhaka expressway

A worker of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway died after a container fell on him yesterday – a day after another person died as a steel frame from the structure fell on him – raising safety concerns.

The container fell from a crane that was moving it and crushed Shamim Mia, 39, who was working underneath the expressway around 11:00am, said Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station.

Shamim, from Narsingdi's Raipura upazila, died on the spot, he added.

Following the incident, police detained crane operator Azharul Islam, 29.

Shamim's co-worker Atiur Rahman said the work of the elevated expressway in Tejkunipara was completed. "That's why the materials kept there were being shifted to Moghbazar area where construction work is going on."

The empty container fell from the crane when it was being loaded onto a lorry heading to Moghbazar, he said.

The victim's cousin Habibur Rahman said Shamim was the sole breadwinner of his five-member family and had been working in the project for three years.

"He had twin baby girls just three months ago … How will his family survive now?" he asked, demanded proper compensation for the family.

Shamim's body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College morgue for autopsy.

Just the day before, Matiur Rahman, 50, a hawker, was killed after a steel frame from the expressway fell on him in Dhaka's Moghbazar area.

On May 29 last year, a 12-year-old boy died after an iron rod fell on him from the under-construction expressway in the capital's Mohakhali.

The Daily Star visited the Tejkunipara spot yesterday and tried to contact the expressway officials. They however declined to make any comments regarding the accident.