India Window Cleaning Rescue

A hydraulic tender was raised to the 12th floor to get the window cleaning workers to the ground. We were safe throughout,” Anus Khan, said.

2 window cleaners, stuck outside 12th floor of building, rescued (New Delhi, India): Two workers, who were cleaning the windows of a commercial highrise in the city, were trapped outside the 12th floor of the building on Wednesday morning when the cables of their suspended platform got jammed. The men were rescued after over two hours by a joint operation of the fire department and the police.

The incident was reported around 6am at Vatika Towers on Golf Course road. According to officials of the fire department, a hydraulic tender was raised to the 12th floor to get the workers to the ground. The rescued workers —Shahbaz Nawaz, 21, and Anus Khan, 22 — said initially they tried to resolve the technical error but later informed their supervisor when they failed to resolve the glitch. The building management immediately informed the fire department.

The men were asked to clean windows of the building early in the morning as noise produced by the machines would be a disturbance for those working in the building, the management of Vatika Towers said. Vatika Towers had outsourced this work to Enviro — a facility management company.

Shahbaz Nawaz, who is a resident of Muzaffarnagar in UP, said, “I was not scared as the platform was intact and there was no risk. It was just not moving and we kept on trying for an hour. Cleaning the glass is an everyday task, so there was no fear of heights.” “Initially, I thought we will manage to get down on our own, but the cables of the platform got locked. Our management told us not to panic and they were constantly in touch with us. We were safe throughout,” Anus Khan, said.

Fire officer of Sector 29, IS Kashyap, said the workers were rescued and brought to the ground with the help of a hydraulic tender, which was raised as high as 42 metres. “We reached the spot almost an hour after rescue operations began,” he added. Seema Patra, the facility head of Enviro, said, “The suspended platform was brand new but the cables got locked and the workers were stuck. They could not operate the cable to move down and were stationed outside the 12th floor.”

ACP(DLF) Ramesh Pal said, “As soon as we got the information, we spoke to the fire department and planned to send teams to the roof with ropes. Subsequently, the men were rescued with the help of a hydraulic tender.”