A railway bridge that was being built collapsed in northeastern India, killing at least 26 people and leaving many missing, according to officials. In the state of Mizoram, the incident took place near the city of Sairang. According to the local media reports, as many as 40 people were at the construction site when part of the bridge collapsed.
The authorities said that rescue operations had been taking place throughout the day to save other workers who worked at the site. At the time of the collapse, the workers were standing on the girder, which had a height of about 100 meters in the hills of the region. Two National Disaster Response Force teams and two state disaster squads had been used in rescue operations, said an official of the Mizoram police.
It is still unclear what caused the incident, which has led to an investigation by the railway authority. They’ve already saved three people. The injured worker who had to be pulled from one of the 100 meters high,328ft pillars on the bridge was among them. About twenty kilometers twelve miles from the capital of Mizoram, Aizawl, this incident took place over the Kurung River.
“Any possible assistance will be given to the victims,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office says in a statement. It added that the government would hand over about two hundred thousand rupees,£1,900 and $2,400) to the next of kin of those killed. According to railway officials, all of the victims were from West Bengal.
Mizoram’s Home Minister Lalchamliana said, “There is no place in words to express the profound sorrow and sympathy for families affected by this tragic event”. Work on the 51 km Khamrang-Sihmui railway line started more than two years ago and is scheduled to be completed in December. In India, accidents are not unusual for those types of construction sites. In the western Indian state of Gujarat, a pedestrian suspension bridge fell in October of last year, killing more than 140 people.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the next kin of every dead person will receive an explanatory amount of 2,0 lakh from the PM’s National Relief Funds and a sum of INR 50 000 would be allocated to those injured. Besides, the Railway Ministry officials informed that an ex gratia of 10 Lakh will be paid to the families of the deceased and 2 Lakh for those badly injured as well as a further amount of INR 50 000 to any other victim who sustained injuries.
The President of India, Draupadi Murmu, has also expressed her condolences on the platform X, which was formerly Twitter. “Distressed to know that fatalities resulted from a horrific bridge accident in Mizoram, I offer my sincere condolences to the relatives of the deceased and wish the injured a fast recovery”
