Bandra Sea Rock Hotel demolition claims labourer’s life

The Sea Rock Hotel at Bandra Bandstand, which was ripped apart in the 1993 serial bomb blasts, witnessed another tragedy on Tuesday when Nandakishore Sharma, 50, a labourer, died while helping demolish the building. The other 13 labourers at the site escaped unhurt.

“The labourer was working in the basement when debris, which had accumulated over the last six months, slid over him. He was covered under 25 feet of rubble, and it took us seven hours to find his body,” said Vilas Kuveskar, divisional fire officer.
The demolition, which has been going on for over six months, had led to heaps of debris being accumulated, which the contractor had failed to remove from the site.

Eyewitnesses said that the debris fell on Sharma when a large drilling machine entered the Sea Rock compound and tried to demolish the upper floors. Six floors of the 18-storey building are yet to be levelled.

Sharma’s body was found after a rigorous seven-hour search with the help of four excavators. It was sent to the Bhabha Hospital for a post mortem. “We have managed to find the body. One of his plams is missing,” said Kuveskar.

According to assistant police inspector Vijay Sathe, the police have not registered a case of negligence against the contractor.