Six killed as under-construction bridge crashes in storm in Hamirpur

Kanpur: Six workers were killed and three injured after part of an under-construction bridge on the Betwa River in UP’s Hamirpur collapsed during a storm early Friday.The incident occurred around 3am 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, said Uttar Pradesh Bridge Corporation MD Dharmveer Singh. He said a three-member committee will probe the incident.The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) rescued three workers trapped under the debris. The rescue operation lasted for more than seven hours.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives and termed the incident as extremely saddening. The CM conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.The deceased were identified as Lokendra Nishad, 22, Kuldeep Nishad, 19, Sawant Yadav, 28, Sabhajit, 30, all from Banda, and Pushpendra Singh Chauhan, 34, and Rajesh Pal, 42, from Hamirpur.Govt has suspended assistant engineer Gajendra Kumar Chaudhary for negligence while disciplinary action will be taken against district project manager Dilip Kumar.Hamirpur DM Abhishek Goel said the IMD and the district administration had issued warnings of severe storms and heavy rain on Thursday evening, and people in various villages were alerted through announcements. “The fifth pillar of the bridge, which was 700.90 meters long and 7.5 meters wide, collapsed into three pieces. This caused the slab resting on top of it to fall down. Six workers were buried under the debris and died. Three people got trapped and were later rescued,” said the DM.A senior official told TOI that due to extreme heat, work was being carried out from 8pm to 6am. Construction began in March 2024 and is slated to be completed by Dec 2026.DM Abhishek Goel added that engineers and technical experts from the Bridge Corporation are investigating the matterSHO Lalpura RK Saroj said the bodies were sent for postmortem and debris removal work was underway.Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad termed the incident as painful and tragic. “I express my condolences to victims’ families and they should be provided financial assistance immediately,” he said