Survivor recounts his lucky escape

Prem Prakash, 33, a labourer working with VSL for the last eight months, had a fortuitous escape and survived with a fracture to his right leg. His wife and two children live in Bihar’s Arval district

SHAHAPUR: Prem Prakash, 33, a labourer working with VSL for the last eight months, had a fortuitous escape and survived with a fracture to his right leg. His wife and two children live in Bihar’s Arval district.

Thane, India - August, 01, 2023: 20 people have died after the under-construction bridge girder collapsed near Shahapur Sarlambe village on Samriddhi Highway. One of the injured in this incident is Shahpur He is undergoing treatment in the district hospital at shahpur , in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on, Tuesday, August, 01, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo ) (Hindustan Times)

Still in a dazed condition, Prakash said he was on the late shift on the fateful night. “I reached the site around 8 pm and work started smoothly as usual,” he told HT from his bed in the Shahapur sub-district hospital. “I, along with another labourer, was 100 feet up on the pier when the launcher collapsed. I fell on its side but my leg got stuck.”

Prakash was trapped under the launcher for 20 to 25 minutes. “My right leg was pinned down under the wreckage,” he said. “I cried out for help and began praying to God to save me. The villagers who arrived at the site shortly afterwards spotted me because I was at the edge and pulled me out. They gave me water to drink, and after a few minutes a vehicle arrived, which brought me to this hospital.”