The Hindu : Three killed as railway over-bridge collapses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Three killed as railway over-bridge collapses

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, MARCH 16. Three workers were killed and another was injured when a railway over-bridge, under construction, collapsed at Pambur, near here, this morning.

The police said the dead were Bhajo, Bhilas, and Narayan, all from Orissa. The injured worker, Narayan, is also from that State. The addresses of those killed was not known, but all of them appeared to be in their twenties.

The rail traffic on the route came to a standstill after the accident, but traffic through one of the tracks was restored by 3 p.m. The toll would have been higher had it occurred just one or two minutes later when the Alappuzha-Bokaro Express was to pass through the over-bridge. The train running at 80 km speed was brought to a halt some 100 metres away from the spot after the driver noticed the snapping of the power line following the accident.

The driver informed the Thrissur station authorities about the accident.

Similarly, the New Delhi-Ernakulam Mangala Express, drawn by a diesel engine, was also stopped after the driver received instructions on his wireless set about the accident.

The bridge on the Thrissur-Kuttur Road was nearing completion. Only the span above the rail track and the two spans at its two ends were to be completed. The work on the portion above the track had just begun.

The bodies of the victims were strewn all around. The portions of the collapsed bridge were found scattered on the up-line. The pillars erected at the middle of the two lines for the construction of the portion above the bridge were damaged in the impact of the collapse. The traffic on the down-line was restored after removing the debris and dismantling the pillars.The Roads and Bridges Development Corporation was constructing the bridge.

Senior officials of the police, district administration, the Railway Protection Force, Fire Brigade and Railways supervised the operations.The Railway officials said efforts were on to restore the traffic.

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