On Wednesday, a tragic accident took place in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.<\/p>\n
A construction platform that was being used to build a bridge more than 300 feet tall collapsed, plunging dozens of workers into the ground below.<\/p>\n
The tragic incident happened during the construction of the new Bairabi-Sairang Railway Line in Sairang, a town on the outskirts of Aizawal, the capital of Mizoram state.<\/p>\n
At least 26 workers lost their lives and two others were injured in this catastrophic event.<\/p>\n
Transport Minister T.J. Lalnuntluanga reported that 18 bodies had already been recovered and rescue operations are still underway to locate the eight remaining beneath the debris.<\/p>\n
The new rail line was intended to connect Mizoram to other parts of India according to Northeast Frontier Railway.<\/p>\n
At the time of the collapse there were 40 workers onsite when tragedy struck.<\/p>\n
Local villagers rushed to assist survivors as soon as they heard about what happened and National Disaster Response Force also responded quickly to help out with relief efforts.<\/p>\n
The bridge has been under construction for almost two years now and its tallest pier is 340 feet high, making this an especially large-scale project for India’s transportation infrastructure sector which has long had safety concerns associated with it due to past accidents.<\/p>\n
Just last year there was a cable suspension bridge collapse in Gujarat that killed 132 people and in June 2023 a train collision near Balasore where 288 people died and 850 more were injured – one of India’s deadliest rail accidents in over 20 years.<\/p>\n
Authorities are currently investigating what caused this latest disaster while Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences from South Africa where he is attending BRICS summit by tweeting “Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being given to those affected”.<\/p>\n
Financial aid will be provided by Ministry of Railways both for survivors as well as families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.<\/p>\n