BHUBANESWAR: One person was killed and 12 others were injured when a portion of the under-construction flyover in Bhubaneswar collapsed on Sunday.
The accident occurred when the centering support for laying a span plunged several feet into the ground. The workers on the bridge came hurtling down while a passerby Satyajit Patnaik, who was driving home with his daughter Sheetal on a two-wheeler, was killed.
The 12 injured people, including Sheetal, were rescued from the debris and rushed to Capital Hospital. Sheetal was later shifted to AIIMS in a serious condition.
Onlookers said about 20 people were engaged in work when the mishap occurred while Satyajit was taking his daughter back home after a dance class. The 45-year-old man was received dead at Capital Hospital. Sources at the hospital said most of the injured had reported multiple fractures.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire fighters equipped with gas cutters, three cranes and earth movers are busy removing the debris where some workers are feared to have been trapped. Four ambulances have been pressed into the rescue work.
The railway flyover connects Sahid Nagar to Cuttack Road where a major portion of the bridge is under construction. The workers were laying a span between two slabs when the centering support caved in a little after noon.
Even as works secretary Nalini Kanta Pradhan rushed to the spot, chief minister Naveen Patnaik ordered the suspension of two engineers while directing a high-level inquiry into the mishap. The probe would be headed by chief engineer, designs and chief engineer, roads.
The chief minister’s office said exemplary punishment will be taken against those found guilty.
Work of the flyover which has been hanging fire for last three years had resumed recently. The construction work had started in 2012 and was supposed to complete in 2014 but delay in land acquisition pushed the schedule.
The Works Department secretary said the bridge was targeted to be completed by December. It was being executed by Roads and Building Division 4 and construction work was assigned to Panda Infrastructure Ltd, a local firm.
There was chaos in the site as a huge crowd gathered at the spot with the Twin City Commissionerate Police unable to clear the area. Initially, the fire fighters did not have the required equipment to clear the debris. When NDRF and ODRF teams joined in, debris removal work picked up.