Six labourers killed as under-construction bridge collapses in Hamirpur during storm

Labourers sleeping on slab killed in Hamirpur bridge collapse. Pic/PTI

Six labourers were killed and three others injured after part of an under-construction bridge collapsed following a storm over the Betwa river in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district early Friday, officials said.

The incident occurred around 3 am between Parsani and Kandaur villages when several labourers engaged in the bridge construction work were sleeping on the upper portion of a slab when it suddenly gave way, they said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the incident and directed officials to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

Hamirpur District Magistrate Abhishek Goyal told reporters that the bridge construction work was being carried out by a private company and the project had been underway for the last two years.

He said all safety arrangements for labourers had been made at the site.

Goyal said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the district administration had issued warnings on Thursday evening regarding strong winds, storms and rainfall.

Announcements were made in villages to alert residents and workers about the adverse weather conditions, he said.
The deceased were identified as Lokendra (22), Kuldeep Nishad (19), Sawant Yadav (28) and Sabhajeet (30), Pushpendra Chauhan (34), and Rajesh Pal (42), police said.

Three labourers were trapped under a pillar and later rescued. The injured were admitted to the district hospital in Hamirpur.

While describing the loss of lives as "extremely heartbreaking and heart-rending," Adityanath said on X that instructions had been issued to the district administration to carry out relief and rescue operations swiftly.

According to government officials, the chief minister also announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Lalpura police station Rajesh Kumar Saroj said the bodies have been sent for postmortem and debris removal work was underway to ensure no other worker remained trapped under the rubble

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.