18-Year-Old Who Wanted To Pay Medical Bills Of Father Among Mizoram Bridge Collapse Victim

The collapse of an under-construction bridge in Mizoram yesterday left 23 workers dead. The railroad bridge collapsed near the proposed Sairang/ Sihmui rail station, about 25 kilometres west of Aizawl.

Around 35-40 workers were present when the Mizoram rail bridge collapse incident occurred around 10 am, police said.

Railway Bridge Collapses In Mizoram/ X

This is the second such tragedy to be reported at a railway construction site in the Northeast since June 2022.

Boy paying medical bills of father among victims

Among the victims was 18-year-old Asim Ali. He was a school dropout, who was working with his two uncles to pay the medical bills of his ailing father, as reported by Times Now.

Reportedly, his uncles Sariful Sk and Sakirul Sk also died in the incident.

Another victim was 55-year-old Senaul Haque, a specialist in fitting iron rods from the English Bazar subdivision of Malda.

According to a TOI report, the Young Mizo Association will provide coffins to the deceased.

The Mizoram state government said that the bodies will be embalmed and handed over to the railways for transportation to the victims' respective villages.

Last year on June 30, a landslide at the under-construction Tupul railway yard and a Territorial Army post in Manipur's Noney had led to the death of 50 people.

Bridge collapsed when workers were on the girder

The under-construction bridge collapsed when the workers were on the girder, at a height of around 100 metres in the hilly terrain of the region.

Railway officials have told ANI that the bridge girder process was duly approved by IIT experts.

A high-level enquiry committee has also been constituted to investigate the matter.

TOI

A video clip from Thursday shows JCB machines moving towards the construction site as rescue workers were sifting through the rubble to make sure there were no people trapped after the bridge collapsed.

Ex-gratia of 2 lakh announced for kin of deceased

In a tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga expressed his condolences.

He posted: "Deeply saddened and affected by this tragedy. I extend my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. Sending gratitude to the people who have come out in large numbers to help with rescue operations."

Under construction railway over bridge at Sairang, near Aizawl collapsed today; atleast 17 workers died: Rescue under progress.

Deeply saddened and affected by this tragedy. I extend my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families and wishing a speedy recovery to the¡­ pic.twitter.com/IbmjtHSPT7

¡ª Zoramthanga (@ZoramthangaCM) August 23, 2023

PM Modi also took to Twitter to announce an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs. 50,000 for the injured.

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