4 workers dead, 3 injured in mishap at glass item manufacturing unit in Pune

Police said the incident took place at India Glass Solutions Company in Yewalewadi, where a variety of glass products are manufactured. A group of about 10 workers were unloading huge boxes carrying glass panes from a container truck at the company on Sunday at about 1.30 pm, when some boxes fell over the workers inside the truck.

Dead bodies of four victims being taken for postmortem at the Sasoon hospital (Express Photo by Chandan Haygunde)

The Pune Fire Brigade and a team of Kondhwa police rushed to the spot. Fire officer Sameer Shaikh said the workers were taken down from the truck using rescue equipment.

“Stacks of large and heavy glass panes packed in wooden boxes were transported to the company in a container. The weight of each box was about 1.5 to 2 tonnes. Some boxes fell over the workers during unloading. Some workers were crushed under the heavy glass panes,” said Shaikh.

Police said four workers died and their bodies were taken to Sassoon hospital for postmortem. Three workers were injured and their condition was stable, police said. At the Sassoon hospital morgue, a family member of the deceased Pavan Kumar said the victims are all natives of Raebareli in UP. Some of them were initially working in Mumbai, and then shifted to Pune a couple of years before, the family member said.

The company where the incident took place (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre)

Meanwhile, Pune city police launched a probe into the incident. Senior police inspector Vinay Patankar said, “Prima-facie, negligence has been observed. Accordingly, we are now lodging an offence against a company authority.”

A senior police officer said they are investigating to find out whether there was any negligence in packing or in sealing of the glass panes at the location where the material came from, and whether essential precautions were taken for the safety of workers at the Pune unit.