13 killed in OLMT-related accidents, LHC told

LDA yet to pay compensation to families of two deceased ‘because they died away from construction site’

LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority has informed Lahore High Court that 13 people have lost their lives in accidents related to the Orange Line Metro Train project.

In a report submitted in the court on Monday, the LDA said that only four of the 13 deaths had occurred at the construction site.

According to details submitted in the court, one Muhammad Ashfaq had died on October 19, 2015. The LDA report said that Ashfaq had lost control of a motorcycle he was driving as he tried to overtake on the wrong side a vehicle-mounted mixer. It said he had fallen to the ground and was run over by the mixer vehicle. He had died on the spot. It said the project contractor had paid Rs1.5 million and the provincial government Rs500,000 to the family of the deceased.

Azeem Ishaque had died in an accident on November 26. The report said that his death had also occurred in an accident involving the mixer vehicle. It said he had lost balance of a motorcycle he was driving past the mixer vehicle when a sack of clothes he was carrying got stuck in the vehicle. He had fallen to the ground and was run over by the vehicle’s rear wheel. He had died on the spot. The report said Rs 2 million had been paid in compensation to the family of the deceased.

On January 17, M Anwar and Muhammad Shabbir had died in an accident on their way to the construction site. The report said they had received an electric shock when a boring rig they were bringing to the site accidently came into contact with an 11 KVA electric cable. The two men had died on the spot. However, the report said, no compensation had been paid to families of the deceased as the accident took place away from construction site.

The report stated that one Amanullah, a safety worker at Habib Construction Services, was guiding an excavator when he slipped and was run over by the vehicle. He died on the spot.

Muhammad Sharif, a labourer hired by a sub contractor, was walking past an excavator when he was hit by a motorcyclist. He lost balance and fell to the ground and was run over by the excavator. The sub contractor paid Rs2 million compensation to his family.

Seven other labourers died in their sleep on May 24 when an under construction wall of a privately owned warehouse fell on them. The deceased were identified as Rashid, Muhamad Nadeem, Muhammad Usman, Zulfikar, Nadar, Muhammad Irfan, and Muhammad Maqbool.

The report said an FIR had been lodged against the warehouse owner.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.