Aizawl bridge collapse: 22 bodies of migrant workers recovered, search on for one

Aizawl bridge collapse: 22 bodies of migrant workers recovered, search on for one

According to sources, 23 out of the 26 labourers who were working on the under-construction railway bridge that fell in Mizoram’s Aizawl district are presumed to be dead, but the police have found 21 remains.

There are still two persons missing. Two of the three injured individuals were released after receiving first assistance, and the third was hospitalised with a fractured right hand to the Civil Hospital in Aizawl.

According to the railroads, the tragedy on Wednesday was caused by a gantry that collapsed as it was being launched onto the still-under-construction bridge over the Kurung River.

To investigate the incident involving the under-construction bridge, one of the 130 bridges included in the Bhairavi-Sairang new railway line project, a high-level committee has been established.

The bodies would be brought to the state, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. There were 26 employees, all of them were from West Bengal’s Malda area.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state congress president, visited the Malda district relatives of the deceased and promised them assistance.

“Migrant labourers from Bengal are everywhere in this nation, and Murshidabad and Malda districts are home to a sizable portion of them. During the epidemic, I was able to grasp this very well since migrant workers from Gujarat to Arunachal contacted me in an effort to return home, he told reporters.

According to Chowdhury, the MP for Baharampur in Murshidabad, these individuals are compelled to leave the state in search of jobs since there are no job possibilities in West Bengal.

Criticising the TMC administration, he said, “Why can’t the chief minister promise that she will provide these individuals training, enhance their talents, and find them jobs? How many migrant labourers come from your state, may I ask the chief minister? It is your failing if you are unaware of this.

“The chief minister doesn’t give a damn about the migrant workers, which is why we don’t have any information on them,” The rural economy of the state is supported by the money they make overseas. But the state doesn’t want to accept any blame,” he said.

The bodies of 22 migrant labourers who died when a bridge under construction in Mizoram’s Aizawl district collapsed have so far been found, officials said on Thursday, according to PTI.

There is an ongoing search for the lone missing person. Two NDRF teams and two state disaster teams were conducting the rescue efforts, according to a Mizoram police officer.

A steel girder for a railway bridge that was still being built fell at a construction site on Wednesday at approximately 11 AM, causing the event to occur in Sairang in the Aizawl district, around 19 kilometres from Aizawl city.

The incident’s location is a part of the Indian Railways’ 51.38 km long Bairabi-Sairang New Line Railway Project, which aims to connect the state to the rail network.

To investigate the situation, a high-level committee has been established.

Following the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the PM’s Relief Fund will be providing an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh to the surviving family members of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to the injured.

The Railways said that it will give ex-gratia payments of Rs. 10 lakh to the deceased’s family, Rs. 2 lakh to those who suffered severe injuries, and Rs. 50,000 to all other wounded people.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, stated that preparations had been taken to send the remains to the state.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the state Congress president, also met with the victims’ relatives in Malda district and promised them assistance.

Speaking to reporters, he stated, “You will see migrant labourers from Bengal everywhere you go in this nation, and a sizable portion of them are from the districts of Murshidabad and Malda. I was able to grasp this during the epidemic when migrant labourers from Arunachal to Gujarat contacted me in an effort to return home.

According to Chowdhury, the MP for Baharampur in Murshidabad, these individuals are compelled to leave the state in search of jobs since there are no job possibilities in West Bengal.

He criticised the Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration, asking why she couldn’t promise to provide these people training, boost their abilities, and find them jobs.

What is the number of migrant workers from the state, I want to question the chief minister? It is a failing on your part if you are unaware of this.

We lack information regarding migrant workers since the chief minister does not care about them. The state’s rural economy is supported by the money they make elsewhere. However, the state is unwilling to accept any blame, he alleged.

Following the incident, President Droupadi Murmu and Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthange both sent their sympathies.