A PORTION OF an under-construction building at the Kannauj railway station in Uttar Pradesh collapsed on Saturday afternoon, trapping around two dozen workers under the rubble, a senior official said. A rescue operation was launched swiftly to evacuate those trapped under the debris after a ceiling slab collapsed while work was underway on a two-storeyed building, the official said.
By Saturday evening, at least 24 of the trapped workers were rescued and taken to hospital.
“We have rescued 24 people so far, including four who suffered injuries. The rescue operation is still ongoing,” said District Magistrate (DM) Shubhrant Kumar Shukla.
“Our first priority is to rescue the workers who are trapped. We are using all resources at our disposal for the rescue,” Shukla, who reached the spot along with other senior officials to oversee the rescue operation, added.
The four injured persons are undergoing treatment at the hospital, and doctors said that their condition is stable. The others were discharged after medical aid.
A Railway official said the injured are receiving “proper medical treatment”. In a statement, the North Eastern Railway said that the ex gratia compensation for the injured workers has been increased to `50,000 for those with minor injuries and `2.5 lakh for those with serious injuries.
A three-member high-level committee to investigate the incident, said Pankaj Kumar Singh, Chief Public Relation Officer (North Eastern Railway).
The inquiry team will comprise Chief Engineer (Planning & Design), the Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Izzatnagar) and the Chief Security Commissioner (Railway Protection Force). “It will be part of the investigation to check under which plan the construction at the railway station was going on and also how the incident occurred,” said Singh.
Soon after being informed of the incident, local MLA and state minister Asim Arun reached the spot and supervised the rescue operation.
DM Shukla said the incident occurred when the lintel of the under-construction two-storey building suddenly collapsed. He added that since the area was open, it is believed that several labourers managed to escape when the structure gave way.
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