Varanasi flyover comes crashing down, 18 dead
TRAGEDY Portion that caved in was constructed in Feb, CM announces ex gratia
VARANASI/LUCKNOW: Eighteen people were killed and several others injured after a part of an under-construction flyover collapsed near Cantonment railway station in Varanasi on Tuesday, a senior civil servant said.
Three persons were rescued, but a few were still trapped under a huge slab of the flyover that collapsed, said Arvind Kumar, principal secretary, home. A city bus and about halfa-dozen vehicles were crushed under the slab, officials engaged in rescue operations said.
National Disaster Response Force inspector Neeraj Kumar said NDRF rescue teams recovered 18 bodies and had rescued three alive. He added that the death toll could rise. Seven NDRF teams, or around 325 personnel, were involved in rescue and relief operations.
Arvind Kumar said the flyover was being constructed at a cost of ~129 crore and 56% of it had been completed.
The portion of the flyover that caved in on Tuesday had been constructed in February.
Eyewitness said a pillar of the flyover collapsed suddenly, sending the huge slab crashing on passing vehicles and people.
In a Twitter message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “extremely saddened” by the loss of lives and asked officials in the state to provide all possible support to those who had been affected. Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of the Prime Minister. He also spoke of the accident in New Delhi while addressing party workers after the BJP emerged the single largest party in the Karnataka election.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the deaths and announced an ex gratia payment of ~5 lakh to families of those who died and ~2 lakh each to the injured.
Adityanath said deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and minister of state Nilkanth Tiwari have been sent to Varanasi to oversee rescue and relief operations.
The CM constituted a threemember probe team, led by agriculture production commissioner RP Singh, and gave it 48 hours to investigate the incident, fix responsibility and propose action against those whose negligence may have been responsible for the accident.
RICKSHAW CRUSHED, MAN LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
Pradyuman Lal recalled being on the front seat of an auto-rickshaw when a portion of the fly- over collapsed, crushing the vehicle’s rear portion.
The impact was such that Lal was thrown several metres away, he said. Having suffered injuries to his hands, he started running in panic and fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was in an ambulance that had brought him to the divisional hospital, he said.
Undergoing treatment, he said, “I am lucky to be alive.”.
Mohammad Shaqil and Mohammad Ismail, resident of Nakhi Ghat, and Mohammad Nasaruddin of Jaitpura too are undergoing treatment there.