Varanasi: At least 18 people were killed and several feared trapped on May 14 after an under construction flyover collapsed in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi city.

Three people have been pulled out of the debris. Many trapped are reported to be laborers working on the flyover.

Two pillars of the flyover collapsed in cantonment area, bringing a huge slab of concrete down, crushing cars and a local bus under it.

Five teams of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF have been deployed to lead the rescue operations. Dozens of policemen were also present at the spot.

Eight cranes were used to lift the debris and a crane with a 200 ton lifting capacity was also called in.

Officials say gas cutters are being used and the first priority is to pull out those trapped.

An eyewitness, who was 50 meters from the collapse site, said, “Four cars, an auto-rickshaw and a minibus were crushed by it… The help came after an hour.”

The flyover, 2,261 meters in length was being built a cost of 1.29 billion rupees by the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation and 56 percent construction had been completed. The portion of the flyover that fell was laid in February.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry report in 48 hours and has also directed his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya and minister Neelkanth Tiwari to visit the spot. “The chief minister has expressed grief and directed the administration to speed up rescue operation,” UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh told ANI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to say that he has spoken to officials and asked them to ensure all possible support to those affected. “I spoke to UP CM Yogi Adityanath Ji regarding the situation due to the collapse of an under-construction flyover in Varanasi. The UP Government is monitoring the situation very closely and is working on the ground to assist the affected,” he said.

Former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav appealed to the workers of his Samajwadi Party to assist the rescue teams. He also tweeted, “I hope the government will not just wash their hands off by paying compensation, rather will order a fair investigation.”

(Source: ndtv.com)