The scaffolding, 60-ft-wide and 200-ft-tall, was crawling with labourers when a portion at the top gave way. About 35 workers were toiling on the section which first caved in while about 70 workers were at the site where work was in progress. The scaffolding had been erected on one side of the building, where replastering was underway.

Eyewitnesses say a section at the top of the intricate network, essentially an assemblage of iron pipes, gave way at around 3 pm. Even as workers beneath scattered to safety, the portion that collapsed triggered a cascading effect and dragged the entire structure down. At the end of the day, all that remained was twisted iron wreckage piled fiveto eight feet high which was being attacked by gas cutters and welders - and a smattering of blood.

While repair work on the building, which has 74 flats, had been on for a year, replastering had begun only two months ago.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, who visited the site, announced that the state would prevail on the company, Painterior, to give the deceased due compensation while the injured would get ``as much help as possible from the state government''.

Considering the gravity of the accident and the fact that it was the second in the city - the last being at Jolly Maker Chambers, Cuffe Parade, where four workers died two weeks ago - Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Shridhar Joshi said rules might have to be framed making it mandatory for the fire brigade to clear such proposals. At present, permission of the civic authorities is not required for work such as replastering, he said. However, the company, Painterior, which has repair and replastering sites at other places in the city, wouldhave to wait for clearance from the fire brigade to continue its work.

Fire officer in charge at the site, D S Mulye, remarked that prima facie, the scaffolding appeared to have been weak. ``The structure itself shows poor engineering,'' he said, pointing to a portion that was still standing. As spectators squinted at the remains of the iron skeleton, a broken tin sheet on which the workers stood, swayed dangerously. Time and again, firemen cleared onlookers from the site, afraid that the portions which still poked into the air would also collapse.

According to the security guard, Hariprasad, the first sign of impending danger came when a platform at the top began to sway. ``I guess the debris being collected by the workers as the plaster was being removed was too heavy for the scaffolding. Since the rubble was not thrown down immediately, a few pieces began tumbling down. But, very soon, even as workers told those above to lighten their load, the whole network stretching 200 feet high gave away,'' hesaid.

While civic sources said the workers were insured, the workers themselves were not sure. ``We don't know if those of us who are injured will get any compensation,'' said Kishore Kumar Majhi, a young boy from Orissa. In fact, most of the labourers at the Sterling Apartments site were from Orissa, aged around 18 to 25. They are paid Rs 60 to Rs 70 per day, depending on the nature of their work, they said.

Syed Firoze, a welder whose leg and back was injured in the crash, told Express Newsline at Jaslok Hospital that he was at the fifth floor along with six others when the scaffolding came down. As the iron bars moved under him, he climbed to the second floor and then jumped the rest of the distance. ``To the left of us, where the scaffolding actually gave away, there were 35 people,'' he said.

Mayor Nandu Satam, who visited the site, said only an inquiry would reveal what actually happened and how the municipal corporation could step in to regulate such repairs. Police Commissioner R H Mendonca saida case of negligence had been registered and the supervisor had been taken in for questioning.