In a freak but a shocking mishap, a senior citizen was killed and two others sustained minor injuries when an aluminium cladding panel of a huge mural of Mahatma Gandhi installed at the Churchgate railway terminus in south Mumbai collapsed on him.

On a day when the impending cyclone Vayu began influence the weather conditions in the country’s commercial capital, an acrylic hoarding blew off a skywalk and crashed on three pedestrians in Bandra (west) in north-west Mumbai. Three women – Tejal Kadam (27) Malisa Nazareth (30) and Sulakshana Vaze (41) -- were injured in the mishap. 

In the far-off western suburb of Bordi Road, four workers were injured when five girders of a railway bridge gave way, when some work was going on there. The authorities attributed the incident to strong winds blowing in the area. Following the incident, the traffic on this stretch of Western Railway was affected.   

A pedestrian identified as one Madhukar Appa Narvekar (62) was severely injured, when the cladding from a 81 ft x 54 ft mural of Mahatma Gandhi, installed in November 2017 fell on him at 12.45 pm.

Narvekar was rushed to the nearby G.T. Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries after an hour while undergoing treatment.

Two more pedestrians were injured in the mishap that saw an aluminium cladding panel on the second and third floor of the eastern side facade of Churchgate terminus building gave way and crashed on them. However, the injured persons left the spot before they were even provided first aid.

All through Wednesday, the metropolis reeled under pre-monsoon showers, resulting in disruption of flight operations, rail and road traffic.

While an Air India flight AI-678 from Delhi to Mumbai was diverted to Ahmedabad on Wednesday afternoon because of inclement weather conditions, the arrival and departures of some flights were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes because of to strong winds at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.