In a freak incident, a 45-year-old operator died here Tuesday when a massive heavy duty crane toppled and fell sideways as it was attempting to place a 50-tonne heavy girder (beam) on the flyover structure. 

The incident which occurred at 3 am during the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) work on the main road of Shaikpet led to the death of Gurpreet Singh, the crane operator.

The toppled crane in Hyderabad's Shaikpet in which the operator died. (Photo | EPS)

According to eyewitnesses and officials, the 150-tonne capacity crane lost its balance when it was placing the girder and was noticed by the driver. In a bid to save himself, he jumped out of his cabin, when the machine started tilting. 

Singh, who was running away from the machine, however, died on the spot as the girder fell on him.

Hyderabad Mayor B Rammohan announced an ex gratia of Rs 13 lakh to the kin of the deceased, who hailed from Punjab.

The crane operator, Gurpreet Singh, would get a compensation of ₹13 lakh, of which ₹2 lakh would be released by Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan from his funds.

The contractor has agreed to pay ₹5 lakh and the family would get ₹6 lakh by way of workers’ insurance, a press release from the GHMC informed.

The flyover has been under construction as part of the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) for signal-free traffic flow, envisaged by the Telangana government, and implemented by the GHMC.

Mr. Dana Kishore asked officials to exercise caution while removing the crane, as a huge water pipeline and electricity transformer exist right beside the road that has caved in.

The incident led to heavy traffic snarls grid-locking the IT corridor of the city.