- Deadly Railway Bridge Collapse in India
- Rescue and Investigation Underway
- History of Structural Collapses During Monsoon Season in India
At least 22 construction workers were killed Wednesday when the railway bridge they were constructing across a ravine in India’s remote northeast collapsed, and four more are presumed dead.
The incident occurred in Sairang, a town approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of the state capital of Mizoram, Aizawl — an outlying region near the Myanmar border.
Mizoram’s chief minister, Zoramthanga, posted a video of a metal frame falling from lofty columns into a forested valley.
“Deeply saddened and affected by this tragedy,” he wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.
Zoramthanga, whose name is Zoramthanga, thanked everyone for helping rescue operations.
According to the Northeast Frontier Railway, forty laborers had been employed at the site.
An agency employee who requested anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak with the media, stated that 22 bodies had been recovered from the devastation.
He added that four more individuals were still missing.
A committee has been formed to investigate the accident’s cause.
The Narendra Modi office said, “Rescue operations are underway and all possible aid is being provided to those affected.”
His office added that Modi was “grieved” by the accident and offered his “condolences to those who have lost loved ones.”
It was stated that the government would pay approximately $2,400 to the next of kin of those slain.
Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw also proclaimed separate compensation for the accident’s victims.
In India’s monsoon season (June–September), days of uninterrupted rain cause ancient, fragile structures to collapse.
A crane toppled above a road under construction outside Mumbai this month, killing at least twenty workers in western India.
At least 137 people were killed in Gujarat state last year when a pedestrian bridge collapsed, sending hundreds of people into a river or clinging to the wreckage while screaming for assistance in the dark.
In 2016, a flyover collapsed onto a busy street in Kolkata, killing at least 26 persons.
In 2011, a festival-filled bridge collapsed near Darjeeling, a major tourist destination, killing 32.
A week later, a footbridge over a river in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh collapsed, killing approximately 30 persons.
