BHUBANESWAR: The roof collapse of the under-construction link building of Biju Patnaik International Airport on Friday night left one dead and another injured.
Multiple agencies including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Fire Service personnel called off the rescue operation after scanning the mishap site late in the night.
Antarjami Guru, helper of a construction vehicle which was stationed at the construction site succumbed to his injuries when he came under the crumbling materials. He was a native of Cuttack’s Beramba. He was at the site along with the driver, Naba Swain, when the incident occurred.
The agencies’ operation lasted for over two hours. Khurda Collector Sitanshu Rout and Additional CP Anup Sahoo camped at the site and the hospital on late Friday night to supervise the operations.
"After the incident, a rescue operation was launched and Guru succumbed in the incident. He was declared brought dead by the doctors," Khurda Collector Sitanshu Kumar Rout told the newspaper.
The other person sustained injuries in ribs and legs but is out of danger now, he added. He said, a dog squad was also pressed at the site but there was no one else trapped under the debris. The mishap, however, will not impact flight operations from the airport, sources said.
All the flights will operate as usual and there has not been any change in the schedule yet. Strangely, the Airport Authority of India officials have remained completely incommunicado after the incident even as the authorities have locked the main gate of the link building for further investigation.
It is being suspected that the roof caved in due to faulty centring and slab laying work at the building spread over 12,00 sq/ft. The Link Building was connecting Terminal 1 and 2 of the City airport.
Science and Technology Minister Ashok Chandra Panda, Special Relief Commissioner Pradip Jena visited the site and took stock of rescue operation.