India’s deadly history of construction accidents

The collapse of a flyover in eastern India, which killed at least 25 people, is one of many deadly accidents of its kind to occur in recent years, with poor construction often to blame.

Here is a list of significant construction-related accidents in the South Asian nation.

June 2014

— An 11-storey apartment tower under construction on the outskirts of the southern city of Chennai crashes down following heavy rains. The accident kills 61 people, mainly labourers.

September 2013

— Some 60 people are crushed to death when a five-storey building listed as needing urgent repairs collapses in India’s financial hub Mumbai.

April 2013

— An illegal, partially built apartment block collapses on the outskirts of Mumbai, killing 74, many of them children.

November 2010

— A residential block collapses in New Delhi, killing 69. Blame centres on poor construction, waterlogging from the nearby Yamuna river and extra storeys being added illegally to the structure.

September 2009

— A giant chimney at a power plant in central India crashes down in bad weather, killing 41 people. It was being built by a Chinese firm for Balco, part of London-listed resources giant Vedanta.

December 2006

— An arch of a 140-year-old bridge falls onto an inter-city passenger train in Bhagalpur in India’s Bihar state, killing 34 people.

September 2006

— Some 50 coal miners die after a mine operated by state-run Bharat Coking Coal collapses in eastern Jharkhand state, following an explosion.

August 2003

— An explosion thought to be caused by a compressor-boiler system destroys a building housing a small factory in western Gujarat state, killing 43.

June 2001

— A 120-year-old bridge gives way, causing a train to fall into the Kadalundi river in the southern state of Kerala, leading to 59 deaths.
IANS