The Bus Rapid Transit project crane that dropped a girder on a passing car in Dhaka’s Uttara and killed five members of a family was operated by a 23-year-old assistant named Rakib Hossain.
The crane’s usual operator, 25-year-old Al Amin Hossain Hridoy, instructed him through signals from outside the construction vehicle when the accident occurred, RAB said.
RAB arrested nine men in connection with the accident at the infrastructure project, reports bdnews24.com.
They include Al Amin and Rakib, traffic men Md Rubel, 28, and Afroz Miah, 50, of the Four Brothers Guard Service providing security at the construction site, project Safety Engineer Zulfiqar Ali Shah, 39, IFS CON Bangladesh Limited owner Iftekhar Hossain, 39, whose company provided heavy equipment for the project, Head of Operations Azharul Islam Mithu, 45, Tofazzal Hossain Tushar, 42, the marketing manager of Build Trade Company, which provided cranes to the project, and administrative officials Ruhul Amin Mridha, 33, and Manzurul Islam, 29.
The suspects were arrested by RAB from Dhaka’s Jurain, Jatrabari, Kalshi, Savar and Gazipur and parts of Sirajganj and Bagerhat, the law enforcers said at a press conference on Thursday.
Al Amin was the main operator of the crane, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of the RAB Law and Media Wing. He had a license to operate light vehicles, but not one for heavy vehicles.
In 2016, Al Amin trained to operate cranes. Since then, he worked on two to three construction projects before he began on the BRT project in May of this year. His helper, Rakib, joined the project three months ago and had no training to operate cranes.
On the day of the accident, Al Amin and Rakib began operating the crane around 2 am, Commander Al Moin said. They finished laying down one girder and then attempted to pick up another that was heavier than the crane’s lifting capacity, lost control of it and dropped it on the car.
Rakib was operating the crane at the time and Al Amin was instructing him from outside the vehicle. Both of them fled the scene.
RAB said that the BRT project contractor firm China Gezhouba Group Corporation got its equipment from a local company known as IFS CON. IFS CON did not have any large cranes and so procured the one involved in the accident from the Build Trade Company.
On Monday, the 70-tonne girder for the Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit project came crashing down on a car when it was being moved onto a trailer.
Photos and footage showed the crane tilted on one side. The authorities said the crane could lift 80 tonnes and it had been used for moving these girders earlier.
A case was filed at Uttara West Police Station over the incident accusing the crane operator, contractor company China Gezhouba Group Corporation and unnamed people responsible for security.
The government suspended the project, saying the work will resume after ensuring safety as an initial inquiry found evidence of negligence by the Chinese contractor.
The High Court earlier on Wednesday issued a rule asking why the family of the victims of the Uttara girder accident will not be paid Tk 50 million as compensation.