Dubai construction worker dies after being trapped under collapsed ceiling for 26 hours

Rescuers were unable to save the man but another worker who was trapped has non-life-threatening injuries.

Rescuers tried for hours to find the man trapped underneath the rubble but when they did he was dead. Courtesy Dubai Police

A construction worker's body was on Wednesday recovered after being trapped for 26 hours under rubble following a ceiling collapse.

Another worker sustained injuries in the incident at the building site near Etihad Mall in Al Muhaisnah, Dubai.

"We saw many police officers rushing to the scene," said Luqman, a Pakistani worker at the site.

"Labourers also rushed to find out what happened.

"I didn't see the ceiling collapse. Luckily, I was working in a different area on the site."

Dayantam, 40, a Sri Lankan gardener at the site, said: "I was not at the site when the incident took place. Labourers told me that the ceiling fell on top of the deceased while he was working."

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Police said more than 30 officers attended after the collapse was reported at 8.30am on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Burqaibah, the deputy director of search and rescue, said his team managed to rescue the injured worker.

"Another worker was trapped under rubble due to the ceiling collapse at the construction site," he said. "We used several tools to find him.

"This morning, the rescue team found the trapped worker dead at 11am."

Police had been using sniffer dogs and heavy-duty lifting equipment in the search, but to no avail.

"We came up with a plan to search for the worker. Members of the rescue team were using several machines, including drilling machines, to find the missing worker," Lt Col Burqaibah said.

Three members of the management company at the site declined to comment, although one said they would be in touch with the dead worker's family.  

The family should be in line for compensation as the worker died at work.

Police checked the list of workers at the site to be certain that no one else was missing. They said an investigation would be carried out to determine the cause.

In July last year, a construction worker was killed when a metal bar weighing 24 kilograms fell on his head as he worked on a Palm Jumeirah hotel.

The 34-year-old Bangladeshi was standing below the third floor when a piece of scaffolding struck him. Paramedics tried to revive him but he was dead by the time he reached Rashid Hospital.

* This article has been amended since publication to include updated information from Dubai Police.