Girl dies as gate falls on her in UP CM’s office complex

LUCKNOW: A nine-year-old girl died on Wednesday as an iron gate fell, crushing her in an under construction part of the Lok Bhawan building, which houses the UP CM’s office.

LUCKNOW: A seven-year-old girl was killed as an iron gate came crashing on her in an under-construction part of the newly inaugurated ‘Lok Bhawan’ building, which houses the chief minister’s office here on Wednesday morning.

The deceased girl, Kiran, was playing near the gate when the incident took place.

She used to stay near the accident site with her mother Amita, who was employed as a labourer in the under-construction portion of the building.

The state government has announced an ex-gratia of ₹1.5 lakh and constituted a two-member committee to probe the matter. The committee is expected to submit its report within seven days.

The building, worth ₹602 crore, built on 6.3 acres of land, was inaugurated by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in October 2016. .

However, since the project was incomplete, construction was going on in the rear portion.

The officials said the gate had become weak after heavy rainfall on Wednesday morning.

“The early morning rain on Wednesday had damaged the hinge of the iron gate and it came crashing down when the girl was playing near it. Since the gate weighed over three quintals, the girl got badly injured after coming under it,” said Avinish Mishra, circle officer, Hazratganj. He said the girl was rushed to the civil hospital but was declared brought dead by doctors.