Sports minister Bandhu Tirkey inspects the site at Hotwar where the labourers fell. Picture by Manik Bose

Ranchi, June 29: One labourer died and two were injured when a roof of the stadium under construction at Hotwar collapsed early on Sunday.

Casting work was going at the rooftop of the stadium, 22m above the ground, when the floor the workers were standing on gave away around 12.15am.

Work at the stadium in Hotwar, about 15km from the city, is on around the clock. The arena is being constructed for the forthcoming National Games.

Source said a portion of the iron frame that was supporting a 15m stretch of the roof gave away. The workers were standing on the under-construction roof.

“The three were rushed to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, where one was declared brought dead. The others have been admitted in the intensive care unit,” a security guard present at the time of the incident said.

A FIR has been registered against Nagarjuna Construction — involved in building the arena — at Sadar police station. The report was filed on the statement of one of the injured, Mohan Turi.

Police said the deceased was Manoj Turi (19), a resident of Parki village under Balumath police station of Laterhar district. The injured are Raj Kumar Turi (35), a resident of Bhurkunda, and Mohan Turi, a resident of Parki village. “The body has been sent to RIMS for post-mortem,” an official at Sadar police station said.

Sports minister Bandhu Tirkey said the accident was seemingly a case of negligence on the part of the engineer assigned to laying the roof.

“Prima facie the matter appears to be a case of negligence on the part of the engineer. Seems he did not take the proper precaution while setting the frame to lay the roof. If the engineer had kept the effects of rain in mind, the water would not have penetrated the frame and made the mixture binding it loose. The life of a person would not have been lost,” Tirkey said. He added that he has ordered a probe into the matter.

The minister also visited the spot to get first-hand information.

Officials of Nagarjuna were not available for comment. Workers and officials were not seen at the spot after the accident. The security guards at the site said workers and officials had not come in today as it was a holiday.

The accident could come as a hurdle on the path of speedy completion of the stadium before the Games — scheduled in December — begins.