Chennai: After a 12-hour struggle, a 21-year-old migrant worker buried under 540 tonnes of fruits and iron was rescued by the Tamil Nadu Fire Rescue Services team on Tuesday. The accident took place inside a private cold storage godown in Avadi.
According to police, Arif (23) from Uttar Pradesh, Jaarol (24) from Assam, along with brothers Shayadul Haq(24) and Hayadul Haq(21) from Assam, were working at the KRK cold storage in Mettupalayam, Avadi.
“The four workers were inside the godown at 7 pm, arranging the newly arrived imported fruits. Jaarol was using a forklift to place the boxes on the iron racks when the forklift knocked down one of the racks. Consequently, in a domino effect, all the racks came collapsing down on the four men inside the compartment,” said a fire rescue personnel.
The cold storage has a capacity of 2,700 tonnes and is where imported apples and oranges are stored at temperatures between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius.
Upon receiving information about the mishap, 35 fire service personnel from Avadi, Ambattur, and Poonamallee were deployed at the spot. The police said that Shayadul Haq, Arif, and Jaarol were near the entrance of the compartment and were rescued within an hour, and it was Shayadul Haq who reminded the personnel that his younger brother Hayadul Haq was caught at the end of the compartment.
After the secondary exit was made through the side with an earthmover, the personnel had to exercise caution while moving the boxes manually and one at a time since they had no idea where Hayadul Haq was. Around 5 am, when he realized that the fire personnel were in his vicinity, Hayadul began to cry out for help.
By 9.05 am, the fire and rescue team cleared the mound and rescued Hayadul Haq. “He has suffered an injury on his leg but is fine otherwise,” the police said. He is currently undergoing treatment at Poonamallee Government Hospital.
The Avadi police registered a case based on the complaint filed by godown owner Suresh. Further investigation is underway.
