E-Paper
Railway bridge site crash kills 18 in Mizoram
The bodies of 16 victims, all from West Bengal, had been recovered, while two were still stuck underneath the gantry girder.
At least 18 people were killed and three were injured on Wednesday when a section of an under-construction railway bridge collapsed in Mizoram’s Sairang town, 21km from the state capital Aizawl. Mizoram government officials present at the scene said five others were missing.
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The accident took place on Bridge 196 over Kurung river between Bairabi and Sairang railway station at 9.45am, according to a statement from the Mizoram information department. Video footage posted by Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga on X (formerly Twitter) showed a metal frame, known in technical terms as a gantry girder, that toppled off towering columns into a wooded valley below.
“Under construction railway over bridge at Sairang, near Aizawl collapsed… Deeply saddened and affected by this tragedy. I extend my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured,” Zoramthanga said.
Officials from the contracting firm, ABCI Infrastructures Ltd, which is responsible for assembling and erecting the gantry girders and officials from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said twenty-six people were working on the bridge when it collapsed. The Indian Railways has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the accident and identify its cause.
“High level inquiry committee has been constituted to investigate into the matter,” Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) posted on X.
The bodies of 16 victims, all from West Bengal, had been recovered, while two were still stuck underneath the gantry girder, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials said as this paper went to print. Five people were said to be missing. It was not clear whether those missing were still alive. The three injured workers were taken to Durtlang Hospital in Aizawl.
Efforts were underway to locate the missing workers.
“Pained by the bridge mishap in Mizoram. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recovered soon. Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X.
He announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh for the families of those who were killed.
Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said he was “grieved by the unfortunate incident” abd announced that Indian Railways would provide ₹10 lakh to families of those killed, ₹2 lakh to those who sustained serious injuries and ₹50,000 for minor injuries.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said she has instructed officials to coordinate with the Mizoram government to assist in the rescue operation.
“Shocked to learn about the tragic collapse today of an under-construction railway bridge in Mizoram, leading to loss of lives of several site workers, including some belonging to our Malda district. Have instructed my chief secretary to coordinate with Mizoram administration at once for rescue/ assistance operations,” she said on X.
The remains of the 16 victims will be sent to Silchar, in Assam, from where they will be sent to their homes in West Bengal, an official from the ABCI infrastuctures told the media.
Senior district officials reached the spot immediately after the incident and rescue efforts were undertaken jointly by personnel from state police, NDRF, Border Security Force (BSF) and local residents.
Taphid, a resident of West Bengal, whose son is among the five missing, said, “I was sitting nearby the bridge when the girder suddenly collapsed. My 20-year-old son was working on the bridge at the time of the collapse and is still missing.”
The accident is a setback to the Centre’s effort to connect all state capitals in northeast with the national railway network.
At least 20 workers were crushed to death in western India this month when a crane collapsed above an under-construction expressway outside Mumbai.
In October last year, 130 people were killed in Gujarat when a bridge collapsed soon after it was repaired.
And in 2016, the collapse of a flyover onto a busy street in Kolkata killed at least 26 people.
