22 workers killed in India railway bridge collapse

At least 22 construction workers have been confirmed killed after a railway bridge under construction in the north-eastern Indian city of Mizoram collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.

Railway officials and the Indian police say 18 bodies have been recovered while rescue operations are on to recover the remaining four bodies from under the collapsed steel structure.

A police spokesman told journalists that the incident occurred near Sairang, about 20km (12 miles) from Mizoram’s state capital, adding that up to 40 workers were at the site of the construction when the bridge collapsed.

Read also: Over 261 confirmed dead in India’s worst train accident

“The Railways has constituted a high-level committee to probe the incident involving the under-construction bridge, one of the 130 bridges in the Bhairavi-Sairang New Railway Line project,” the police spokesman said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who expressed his anguish over the incident in a post on Twitter, announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families who have lost a loved one in the accident, and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.

“All possible assistance is being given to those affected,” said Modi in the statement.

“The government will pay some 200,000 rupees (£1,900; $2,400) to the next of kin of those killed.”

https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/1694245422162694361?t=zzIFMoE_ghnkFdnJ6-lI8w&s=19

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