Fifteen workers were killed as a girder machine fell on them during construction of the third phase of Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday, police said.
The machine is a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction. It is used to install precast box girders in highway and high-speed rail bridge construction projects.
The accident took place in early hours on Tuesday near Sarlambe village in Shahpur tehsil, an official said.
Police and fire brigade personnel along with local agencies are engaged in rescue operation, the official said.
The death toll is likely to rise, the official said.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
It traverses ten districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane.
The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.
The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. It covers a distance of 520 km.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in May that the third and last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.