Railroad bridge platform collapse leaves at least 26 victims dead, others injured

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A construction platform being used to build a bridge more than 300 feet tall collapsed in northeastern India, plunging dozens of workers into the ground below, an official said.

State Transport authorities said Wednesday at least 26 workers are dead, and two others were injured after a platform collapsed during construction on the new Bairabi-Sairang Railway Line in Sairang, a town on the outskirts of Aizawal, the capital of Mizoram state.

State Transport Minister T.J. Lalnuntluanga said Wednesday that rescuers have recovered 18 bodies and have located eight others still in the debris.

The new rail line will connect the state of Mizoram to the rest of the country, India’s Northeast Frontier Railway said.

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This photo posted on Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga’s official account on the X platform shows a collapse at an under construction railroad bridge in Sairang, Mizoram state, India, Wednesday, Aug.23, 2023. (Mizoram Chief Minister”s X via AP)

Police said there were 40 workers at the site when the platform collapsed.

Residents of a village near the construction site rushed to assist survivors after the support platform collapsed, police said.

The government-run National Disaster Response Force also rushed to the scene.

The bridge has been under construction for nearly two years. Its tallest pier is more than 340 feet tall.

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Railroad authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse. The Ministry of Railway has announced payments will be given to the survivors and the families of the deceased.

Accident near the town of Sairang leads to deaths of over two dozen workers, many others feared trapped under the rubble. (Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is attending the BRICS summit in South Africa, responded to the news of the crash.

“Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

India’s transportation infrastructure has long been marred by safety concerns.

At least 132 people were killed in India after a colonial-era pedestrian bridge across the river Machchhu collapsed at Morbi in India’s Gujarat state on Oct. 31, 2022. (Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the worst accidents in the country in the past decade took place in October last year when a century-old cable suspension bridge holding hundreds of people collapsed into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat. At least 132 people died during the incident.

People gather at the accident site of a three-train collision near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha, on June 3, 2023. (Jayanta Shaw/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

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Also, in June 2023, three trains collided near Balasore, about 125 miles from the state capital Bhubaneswar in the eastern state of Odisha. At least 288 people were killed and more than 850 were left injured, officials said. 

It was the country’s deadliest rail accident in more than 20 years

The Associated Press contributed to this report.