BHUBANESWAR: Little did 10-year-old Sheetal know that Sunday’s ride with her father would be the last one with him. Sheetal was riding pillion with her father, Satya Patnaik, from a dance academy in Saheed Nagar when the casting materials and centering support caved in.
Satya, who suffered serious injuries, was declared brought dead at the Capital Hospital. He ran a plywood distributorship business in Mancheswar here. According to eyewitnesses, Sheetal was conscious after the incident and was seen calling out for her father to know if he was fine. She is undergoing treatment at AIIMS.
Rudra Mohapatra, a friend of Satya, lashed out at the authorities for not barricading the area while construction work was underway. The deceased’s family members and friends were aghast over the alleged delay by police in handing over the body to doctors for an autopsy. In a bid to avoid any untoward incident, Commissionerate Police deployed additional force near the post-mortem building of Capital Hospital.
At least 10 labourers, who were working on the flyover were also rushed to Capital Hospital. Most of them had suffered fractures and head injuries. Some of them had vision problems as concrete materials had entered their eyes as they were covered with the rubble.
“We began our work shortly after 9 am. Around 14 labourers were at the construction site when the bridge collapsed,” one of the injured labourers said. The injured labourers are Amrit Kerketa, Ananta Prakash Kerketa, Anuranjan Kiro, Bauri Kiro, Santosh Tete, Binod Dung Dung, Tapan Kumar Kandi, Gyana Karmi, Umesh Shukla and Tapan Bhoi. The injured labourers are mostly natives of Balangir and Sundagarh districts.
Help arrived in time for the girl
Bhubaneswar: A private company employee Bibek Nayak (24) had just arrived in the city from his native Chakeisiani and was taking the usual route to reach his rented house near Bomikhal when he heard a loud thud. “Before I could imagine what had happened, I heard screams of labourers. I rushed to the flyover and found a seriously injured man and girl shouting for help,” he said.
The man and the girl were travelling on a Honda aviator when a portion of the under-construction flyover collapsed. With help of a local Kanhu Charan Mohanty, Nayak removed the iron channel and took them out. Sensing delay in arrival of ambulance, they sent the girl in an auto to a nearby hospital. Before police and disaster response teams could arrive at the site, locals had already begun the rescue operation.