LAHORE: Four labourers working with Orange Line Metro Train project were injured after falling from a crane at Yateem Khana Chowk station on Tuesday.

The labourers were being shifted to an under-construction pillar through a crane when its trolley broke down. The labourers fell on the road from a height of some 50 feet and suffered critical injuries.

Rescue 1122 shifted the injured to the Mayo Hospital where three of them were said to be critical. The injured were identified as Rizwan, Shahid, Ijaz and Shahzad. Three of the victims, who are under 18 years of age, were not wearing safety gear.

An eyewitness said the labourers working on the train project were not being provided with any safety gadget.It was not the first incident in which the workers become victim to poor working conditions at train project. So far more than 25 workers were killed in separate incidents.

On Jan 11 this year, seven workers hired by the Habib Construction Company for the Orange Line project died and 14 others injured in a fire that erupted on the third storey of a makeshift residence for workers in Mehmood Booti area near Lahore Ring Road.

In May 2016, seven workers were killed and several others injured when a wall of a godown collapsed on their makeshift residence in Manawan. In January 2016, two labourers died when they suffered electric shocks while working on the project in Chuhng area.

On Oct 19, 2015, a motorcyclist died trying to overtake a vehicle-mounted mixer. Another man died in an accident on Nov 26, 2015. A safety worker at Habib Construction Services died when he slipped and was run over by a vehicle.

Muhammad Sharif, a labourer hired by a sub-contractor, was walking past an excavator when he was hit by a motorcyclist. He lost his balance and fell to the ground and was run over by the excavator.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017