Rescue teams recovered three bodies and rescued two injured persons from the debris of a partially collapsed old bridge following a 12-hour overnight operation on the outskirts of Jammu, officials said on Saturday, 2 May.
One injured worker had been pulled out on Friday, shortly after a section of the bridge caved in in the Thuther area of Bantalab.
Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary reached the site around midnight and ordered the suspension of two engineers. The government has also set up a committee to investigate the incident.
Officials said labourers were carrying out retaining wall and foundation work on the bridge — which had been damaged in flash floods last year — when a portion of the structure collapsed, trapping four workers.
Personnel from the police, Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and the fire and emergency services launched a rescue operation immediately. Teams first extricated a labourer identified as Tarsem Lal, officials said.
"The search and rescue operation concluded this morning. Three bodies have been recovered from the spot. Two others have been rescued in injured condition," a senior officer told PTI.
The bodies were located during the 12-hour search that continued through the night under floodlights, officials added.
Among the injured was divisional fire officer Mohammad Jaffar of the fire and emergency services department, who was struck by a boulder during the rescue effort. The injured have been admitted to hospital.
Choudhary was briefed on the situation after arriving at the site late at night. "I have ordered the suspension of the assistant executive engineer and the junior engineer. I have also issued directions to the engineer-in-chief for attachment of the executive engineer," he told reporters at the spot.
He also ordered a probe into the incident, directing authorities to complete the inquiry within five days. Following the directive, assistant executive engineer Sahil Verma and junior engineer Sajad Mir were suspended pending an inquiry into their conduct, officials said.
The government has constituted a three-member inquiry committee headed by Purshotam Kumar, secretary technical (engineer-in-chief), public works (R&B) department.
Superintendent engineer, public works (R&B), circle Jammu South, Arit Gupta, and executive engineer, public works (R&B) Satwari division, Rajan Mengi, are members of the panel.
With PTI inputs
