CHENNAI: A software engineer was killed on the spot when an iron rod fell on him at an under construction Metro Rail station near Officers Training Academy at St Thomas Mount here on Wednesday morning.

A piece of loose iron rod fell from a height of 20 feet at the construction site on the GST Road . Police said the accident happened at 9am.

L Giridharan, 30, a resident of Venkatesa Perumal Second Street in Madipakkam, was going to his office at Vadapalani on his bike when the accident happened. He suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot.

The iron rod also hit another motorcyclist, U Mansoor. He escaped with minor injuries.

Traffic was thrown out of gear for half an hour after the accident.

The St Thomas Mount police registered a case under the Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC.

The body was sent to the Government Hospital for postmortem.

Police said the accident could have been avoided had metro workers installed a fence around the construction site.

