Woman dies on duty at airport car park

The deceased was identified as Gowri, a resident of Tirusulam, who was working as a private contract labour at car parking in the Chennai airport for the past 15 years. Her husband Arul (45) is also working as a driver of a private firm at the airport.

On Monday, Gowri came to work at 6 am and was issuing tokens for the vehicles. Around 10.25 am, she became unconscious and fell. Other workers and the drivers, who were in the parking area, splashed water on her face but there was no response. Later, Gowri was rushed to the private hospital inside the airport premises on a wheelchair where the doctor declared that Gowri died of sudden cardiac arrest.

As news Gowri’s death spread, a group of relatives and friends gathered in Chennai airport and protested saying that Gowri died as she was made to stand under the sun continuously. They claimed that workers had to work even after the scheduled hours which caused them a lot of stress. They claimed that Gowri was very healthy and had no health problems.

The airport police and the officials visited the spot and held talks with the protestors. Police assured that they would take necessary action after the post-mortem examination following which the crowd dispersed. The airport police registered a case and body was sent for autopsy to the Chromepet Government Hospital.