MUZAFFARABAD: A Chinese technician and three local workers lost their lives when a huge steel structure collapsed at the site of a hydropower project near here on Wednesday.

`The casualties occurred when steel bars weighing over 100 tons fell at the water intake structure of 969megawatt Neelum Jhelum Hydro Electric Project in Nauseri,` said retired Lt Gen Mohammad Zubair, the Chief Executive Officer of the project.

Mr Zubair said that labourers were fixing steel bars along a divide wall between a weir and the water intake structure when the structure collapsed. Six workers were hit and got entangled in the steel bars.

A Chinese technician, Huang Yanxi, was killed and five workers were injured.

Three of the injured Mohammad Ashraf, Shah Zaman and Sajjad Shah died while being rescued.

The two injured, including a Chinese technician, were taken to the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital in Muzaffarabad. The Chinese technician was admitted and the labourer was relieved after treatment.

The bodies of Pakistani workers were handed over to relatives with an instant relief of Rs50,000 each, Mr Zubair said, adding that compensation money would be provided to them soon in accordance withlabourlaws.