Two labourers were killed and eight injured after an iron shuttering of an under-construction bridge collapsed on Rishikesh-Badrinath highway in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district on Wednesday morning, said the state disaster response force (SDRF).
The victims were trapped under the rubble and the rescue teams had to use cutters to pull them out, SDRF said.
The deceased have been identified as Kanahiya (20) and Pankaj (22), residents of Uttar Pradesh.
The incident occurred near Narkota at around 9am.
“As soon as we received information, our teams rushed to the spot. Eight workers were injured in the incident. Two people died on the spot,” said SDRF spokesperson, Lalita Negi.
Meanwhile, Rudraprayag district magistrate Mayur Dixit said a high-level inquiry will be conducted into the matter and necessary action will be taken against the officials of the agency involved in construction. He visited the spot along with the superintendent of police and other officials concerned to inspect the site.
Executive engineer, Public Works Department (National Highway wing in Srinagar), B Mishra said the labourers were engaged in binding steel bars for the foundation of the bridge but the reinforced structure toppled on Wednesday due to disturbance in equilibrium after the rain last night.
{{/usCountry}}Executive engineer, Public Works Department (National Highway wing in Srinagar), B Mishra said the labourers were engaged in binding steel bars for the foundation of the bridge but the reinforced structure toppled on Wednesday due to disturbance in equilibrium after the rain last night.
{{/usCountry}}“Of the 10 labourers who were working, 6 received minor injuries, 2 people who received serious injuries were rushed to the Srinagar hospital and the remaining two who were trapped in rubble died at the spot,” he said.
The bridge is being built by RCC company based in Meerut of Uttar Pradesh, he said.
“As Railways is building a tunnel on the national highway as part of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag Rail Project, they requested us to build a bridge to be used for diversion of traffic when the stretch would remain blocked during the tunnel construction,” he said.
It’s not a part of the Char-Dham highway project, he clarified.