One Dead, One Injured After Containers Topple at Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai

A 19-year-old worker was killed and another worker sustained grievous injuries at the Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal (NSFT) of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Uran taluka, Navi Mumbai, after four empty containers fell from an anchored shipping vessel during heavy rain and gusty winds around 3:30 AM on Monday.

The deceased worker has been identified as Amit Kumar Kishor Prasad, 19, who hailed from Bihar. The injured worker has been identified as Naeem, 30, who is from Ghaziabad.

According to Suraj Patil, Senior Inspector of the Nhava Sheva police station, the incident occurred at the terminal's container berth. The two workers were positioned atop a truck to perform their assigned task of removing waste oil from anchored ships and filling it into the vehicle.

During this time, other daily activities were ongoing at the terminal, including the loading and unloading of containers on various vessels using rail-mounted quay cranes.

While these operations were underway, four of the eight empty containers stacked on an adjacent anchored vessel—where no activity was currently going on—fell off due to the gusty winds and heavy rains.

The four falling containers landed on two trucks at the terminal, one of which was a truck designated for collecting hazardous waste. Prasad and Naeem were trapped under one of the four fallen containers, resulting in Prasad's death and Naeem's severe injuries.

The falling containers also caused damage to the two trucks parked at the terminal. Senior Inspector Patil confirmed the details of the accident, noting that the extreme weather conditions of heavy rain and strong winds directly contributed to the container collapse.