6 dead as under-construction bridge collapses in UP

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

One Assistant Engineer has been suspended in this connection on charges of negligence (in discharge of duty), an official of the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd said. The incident occurred around 3 am between Parsani and Kandaur villages under the Lalpura police station area, around 25 km from the district headquarters.

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 and Superintendent of Police Mrigank Shekhar Pathak reached the spot and inspected the rescue operation being carried out by SDRF teams.

Goyal told reporters that the 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. “Construction work was being carried out at night due to the excessive heat during the day, even though an alert for severe storms had already been issued. Assistant Engineer Gajendra Chaudhary has been suspended on charges of negligence,” Dilip Kumar, Deputy Project Manager of Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd, Hamirpur, said.

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.

The SDRF teams continued search operations at the site to ensure that no worker remained trapped under the debris. Meanwhile, Hamirpur Sadar MLA said the collapse had raised serious questions and asserted that strict action would be taken against those found responsible after completion of the investigation.