PATNA: At least six workers were injured, two seriously, when a portion of an under-construction railway overbridge collapsed in Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s home district of Nalanda late on Sunday. The injured were rushed to a government hospital for treatment.
The incident occurred while workers were engaged in construction on the bridge on Gonava Road near Harnaut Bazar, within the Harnaut police station limits. Several workers were trapped under the debris and sustained injuries.
The sudden collapse caused panic among passersby, who ran for cover. Locals immediately alerted the Harnaut police station and requested urgent rescue operations.
Amrendra Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Harnaut police station, said a police team rushed to the site near the Harnaut railway crossing. “Six workers suffered injuries in the incident. Rescue operation is underway,” he added.
Local residents blamed poor construction quality for the collapse. “The cause of the collapse of the under-construction bridge will be ascertained after a formal investigation,” said a senior district official.
Bridge collapses are not new in Bihar. Recently, Congress general secretary and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra highlighted at a public meeting in Motihari that 27 bridges had collapsed in the state over a span of three years.