Railways constitute 4-member high-level committee to probe bridge collapse in Mizoram

The Ministry of Railways has constituted a four-member high-level committee to inquire into the cause of the collapse of an under-construction railway bridge in Mizoram's Aizawl district in which 22 workers were killed, officials said on Friday.

The committee will submit its report within one month from the date of formation, according to the order issued by the Railways ministry on Thursday.

The four members of the committee are BP Awasthi of RDSO, Dr Dipti Ranjan Sahoo of IIT Delhi Sharad Kumar Agarwal of IRICEN and Sandeep Sharma, Chief Bridge Engineer, NF Railway, the order said.

Works-I branch of the Railway board will be the nodal branch for the functioning of the committee and submission of report for consideration by the railway board, implementation of the committee's recommendation and all related issues..., the order said.

The under-construction railway bridge near Aizawl on which 26 people from West Bengal's Malda district were working, collapsed on Wednesday.

So far bodies of 22 persons have been recovered while three workers who were injured are in hospital.

One worker is still missing and search operations are on for him, officials said.

The Railways said the accident that took place on Wednesday was due to the collapse of a gantry, which was being launched on the under-construction bridge over the Kurung river.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the workers. He also announced an ex gratia compensation of Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.