Rescuers searched for 12 hours, through the night and under floodlights, before they had recovered three bodies from the wreckage of an old bridge on the outskirts of Jammu. Two others came out alive. Officials gave the account on Saturday.
A section of the bridge gave way on Friday in the Thuther area of Bantalab. Labourers were building a retaining wall and laying foundations on the structure, which had been damaged in flash floods the year before. Four of them were trapped when it fell.
Police, the Army, the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force and the fire and emergency department all started rescue work at once. The first person pulled out was a labourer named as Tarsem Lal.
The second injured person was Mohammad Jaffar, the Divisional Fire Officer for the Fire and Emergency Services Department, who was hit by a boulder during the operation. Both injured men were taken to hospital.
“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.
Engineers suspended
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary reached the site at midnight. He told reporters there: “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 ordered a probe and gave the authorities five days to finish it. Assistant Executive Engineer Sahil Verma and Junior Engineer Sajad Mir were suspended while their conduct is examined.
The government has also set up a three-member inquiry committee. Purshotam Kumar, Secretary Technical (Engineer-in-Chief) in the Public Works (R&B) Department, heads it. Its other members are Arit Gupta, Superintendent Engineer for Public Works (R&B), Circle Jammu South, and Rajan Mengi, Executive Engineer of the Satwari division.
