Roof Collapse: Construction worker killed, 8 others hurt

A construction worker was killed and eight others were injured as the roof of an under-construction auditorium collapsed on them in Gafargaon upazila town of Mymensingh yesterday morning.

The victim, Jahan Ali, 25, was from Netrakona's Durgapur upazila.

The under-construction roof of the 500-seat auditorium collapsed around 10:20am, injuring nine workers, said Abdul Ahad Khan, officer-in-charge of Gafargaon Police Station, quoting locals.

The injured were rushed to Gafargaon Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared Jahan dead. One of the wounded was moved to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital as his condition deteriorated, the OC said.

Md Wahiduzzaman, assistant engineer of Mymensingh Zila Parishad, said the construction work involving over Tk 6 crore was awarded to a local firm, Ratan Enterprise, in August 2016, and the work was scheduled to be completed this year.

Johirul Islam Ratan, owner of the firm, was asked to stop the work of the roof as they found problems in its construction. But he did not stop, the engineer said.

Banani Biswas, secretary of the Zila Parishad, said a nine-member committee, headed by its Chief Executive Officer HM Lokman, had been formed to investigate yesterday's incident and asked to submit a report within 10 days.

This correspondent could not reach Ratan over phone for his comments.