A man narrowly escaped potentially serious injury when an under-construction building at Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj Railway station collapsed on Saturday afternoon. Moments before the accident, which trapped around two dozen workers under the rubble, the man was seen walking with a wooden pole around a scaffolding frame, CCTV footage showed.
He entered the frame and looked up when suddenly the under-construction shuttering of the roof came crashing down. He ran out of the frame in the nick of time as the structure fell apart.
Roof shuttering is a temporary structure that supports concrete while it sets.
At the time of the accident, 35 workers were working at the construction site for the new terminal of the Kannauj Railway Station under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Twenty-three of them have been rescued so far. “While 20 of them suffered minor injuries, three of them sustained grievous injuries. The rescue operation is underway and will take a few more hours,” Minister of State (Independent Charge), Social Welfare, Asim Arun said.
“Once the rescue operation is completed, a thorough probe will be launched into the incident,” he said.
Worker Mahesh Kumar, who escaped the accident, told news agency PTI, “As soon as the concrete was poured over the shuttering, it suddenly collapsed. Everyone on it fell. I was standing at the edge and managed to escape,” he said.
Along with local authorities, teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have also been deployed at the site for rescue operations.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to ensure the safe recovery of those trapped inside.
Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that an inquiry committee has been set up to probe the collapse. “A very tragic incident has occurred, and immediate action has been taken. An inquiry committee has also been set up there,” Mr Vaishnaw said.
– With inputs from Israil Khan.