Crane crash: Escaped death by a whisker, says Kamal Haasan

(EDS: Adds quotes,details) Chennai, Feb 20 (PTI): Veteran actor Kamal Haasan on

Thursday said he escaped death by a "whisker" when a crane came came crashing down on the sets of his latest venture

'Indian 2,' killing three technicians. He said ace director Shankar could have also died had

he not moved away from the spot just four seconds earlier. "We escaped by a whisker. Four seconds before (the

incident), the director (Shankar) and cameraman moved away and I was standing nearer along with the heroine (Kajal

Aggarwal)," he said. Talking to reporters after paying homage to the three

victims here, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) political party chief also announced Rs one crore as immediate relief to the

families of the victims and those injured. This was some kind of an interim relief as he knew the

pain of recovering from an injury, Haasan said. He said if he had not moved, someone else would be

addressing the media on Thursday instead of him. "What I am saying is accidents are like tsunami. It

does not know who is rich or poor. Any industry, including Tamil film industry has the

responsibility to take care of its workers. Through you I urge (the industry) to take steps to safeguard the workers," he

said. Haasan said the cinema industry may boast of Rs 200-300

crore ventures but it was a matter of 'insult' that it could not protect its own.

There should be a mechanism to protect workers in the cinema industry, the veteran opined.

Accidents were waiting to happen and one should ensure they don't, he added.

On Wednesday night, three technicians involved in the Shankar-directed venture were killed and nine others injured

when the crane came crashing down. Shooting was going on at a film city in nearby

Nazrathpet. A case has been registered against the crane operator,

who is absconding, under various sections of the IPC, including causing death by negligence, police sources said.

'Indian 2' is a sequel to the blockbuster Tamil movie Indian by the Kamal Haasan-Shankar duo in the 1990s, which

reflected on the social evil of corruption, with Haasan donning the protaganist's role of a freedom fighter taking on

the system. Shankar had added spice to the script by infusing

'varmakalai', a traditional self-defence art hitherto unknown to a large population, in it.

Meanwhile, Haasan's MNM announced he will not take part in the party events related to its third year inaugural

celebrations scheduled on Friday, due to the "sad incident" on Wednesday (accident on the sets).