Rod from Metro crashes into auto, driver escapes

The metal rod missed the auto by a whisker. Pic/Satej Shinde

With Metro construction work ongoing across various parts of the city, the fear surrounding safety that Mumbaikars have harboured, came true on Saturday. Tofiq Mohammed Ghachi, 32, a rickshaw driver, who was travelling via the Western Express Highway, escaped death by a whisker near Borivli. A metal rod from the Metro station site near Magathane crashed on the rickshaw and injured Ghachi, but he fortunately survived.

Speaking to mid-day, Sadik Ghachi, brother of the injured rickshaw driver, said, "On Saturday morning at around 9.30 am, my brother who is a rickshaw driver, was on the Western Express Highway, and when he was riding below the under-construction Metro station, a large piece of metal came crashing down on the rickshaw. It broke the windscreen of the vehicle, and injured my brother."

He says the driver was immediately taken to the BMC-run Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli, where he is undergoing treatment.

MMRDA speak

An MMRDA official said, "A tile had fallen from the concourse level over the rickshaw, causing injury to the driver. He was taken to the hospital by the staff of contractor, who will be bearing his medical expenses at the hospital, and also towards the damages to the auto."