25.04.2008

Communication problem kills three

Three men fell to their death from a building under construction in the United Arab Emirates, after an accident caused by their inability to communicate with the operator of the crane they were working with.

The men, two Indians and one Pakistani, fell from scaffolding while working on the 15th storey of the building in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, when a crane operator delivered a heavy load of concrete to the platform, causing it to collapse.
Please register to see all images

The site in Abu Dhabi

The men tried to tell the crane operator not to put the concrete down until they had climbed off of the scaffold, but he couldn't understand what they were saying and so dropped the concrete, causing the platform to collapse.

The crane operator has been remanded in custody pending an investigation.