One person dead as portion of under-construction bridge collapses in Palanpur in Gujarat

Six concrete girders or slabs, which were recently installed on the pillars of the under-construction bridge near RTO check post, collapsed in the afternoon, said Banaskantha Collector Varunkumar Baranwal.

Palanpur:One person was killed after a portion of an under-construction bridge collapsed in Palanpur town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Monday and a search and rescue operation at the site was underway, officials said.

Six concrete girders or slabs, which were recently installed on the pillars of the under-construction bridge near RTO check post, collapsed in the afternoon, said Banaskantha Collector Varunkumar Baranwal. A CCTV footage of the incident showed a person abandoning his autorickshaw after realising some portion of the bridge was about to give way and trying to run to safety but in vain as he got crushed under huge concrete slabs.

Those at the site claimed there are two more persons in the debris as a tractor was also crushed along with the autorickshaw. "This is a railway overbridge connecting Ambaji with Palanpur. After the six girders collapsed, we started a search and rescue operation. So far, one body has been recovered. There is no point in assuming how many more are still trapped. Our work to remove the debris is on," Collector Baranwal said.

Though the construction of the bridge has been going on since some time, the girders that collapsed were launched on the pillars a week back but had not been tied to the structure as yet, he added.