Two dead, four injured in crane accident

He had just shared a "kopi break" with his colleague.

It was the last time Mr Shamin, 26, would see his friend, a fellow construction worker from Bangladesh, alive.

His 28-year-old friend, who was known among the crew as Mr Ronju Ahmmed, was one of two workers killed when the boom of a tower crane at a work site at Coleman Street broke and crashed on the roof of the former City Hall building yesterday morning.

Large concrete slabs used as counterweights for the crane then slid off the machinery, smashing through a freestanding scaffold that had workers on it.

The impact killed a Thai and a Bangladeshi construction worker, a statement from the National Arts Council said.

Four others were injured, two seriously. Preliminary findings by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) revealed that the crane was lowering an excavator when its boom collapsed.

One man was killed by falling pieces of the concrete slabs, the ministry said. His body was trapped at a height of about five storeys in the scaffolding. The other was struck by the crane's hook assembly at the first level of the work site.

He was pronounced dead when the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived at the scene at about 11.30am.

The crane was at the former City Hall building, which is undergoing renovations as part of the National Art Gallery.

Following the crash, construction work was immediately halted and workers were told to leave, but more than 200 workers remained to see what had happened.

Mr Shamin told The New Paper that Mr Ronju had been working in Singapore for six years. He added that he did not know that his friend had been killed until he saw Mr Ronju's relative enter the accident site together with police officers. Cried

The relative, who said he was Mr Ronju's nephew, broke into tears when he found out about his uncle's death.

Other Bangladeshi workers, including Mr Shamin, stepped forward to console the bereaved man. When approached by TNP, all the man said was, "I don't know, I don't know."

Mr Shamin described Mr Ronju, who was a scaffolding worker at the work site, as a jovial man who knew how to "make people laugh".

The SCDF conducted a two-hour operation to remove the body from the mangled scaffolding.

Two of the injured workers were taken to the Singapore General Hospital by the SCDF. One suffered a head injury and is still unconscious, while the other had a spinal injury but is conscious.

Both are still in critical condition, said a hospital spokesman.

Two other workers suffered light injuries. Both went to Raffles Hospital by themselves to seek treatment, a hospital spokesman said. One has been discharged, while the other was warded for observation.

Six workers whom TNP spoke to said the accident happened when the crane's cable snapped under the weight of the excavator.

This caused the large concrete counterweights to come off. The crane's boom then collapsed and the impact of the falling boom on the roof shattered a part of it.

MOM has directed the contractor, Takenaka- Singapore Piling Joint Venture, to stop all work at the work site, pending investigation.

The director of the National Art Gallery, Dr Eugene Tan, said: "Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased as well as the injured workers. "(We) are doing what we can to provide assistance to the families during this difficult time."

Deaths involving cranes

MARCH 2010

A 32-year-old Malaysian worker was killed when he was pinned under the jib of a 12-tonne tower crane that toppled over as five others were dismantling it on site. The incident also injured three and damaged the side of a block of flats under construction. The injured were taken to Changi General Hospital.

MARCH 2009

The steel wire rope of a tower crane snapped, causing a 500kg metal frame to drop 30m and crash into a container office, killing Mr Lim Boon Tiong, 40. His co-worker, Mr Lum Hon Ying, 41, was severely injured. Seven other people inside the office escaped unscathed.

JUNE 2008

A worker in his 50s collapsed on the 14th level of a tower crane at a West Coast Park condominium work site. He had taken a service lift up to the 12th level and had started to climb a ladder leading to the crane cabin when he collapsed. The worker was pronounced dead on site.

tnp@sph.com.sg

Get The New Paper for more stories.