Northeast Desk, 24th August: The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and Quick Response Team (QRT) have successfully recovered 18 bodies from the wreckage of a railway bridge that collapsed during construction in Mizoram’s Aizawl district. Additionally, three injured individuals were rescued from the debris.
The incident took place near Sairang village around 9:30 a.m., approximately 21 miles from Aizawl’s district headquarters. The rescue operation continued into the night on Wednesday, and postmortems are being conducted by a team from Zoram Medical College (ZMC) and Civil Hospital, Aizawl.
The bodies will be embalmed and handed over to the railway department for transportation to their respective home villages, according to a government statement.
One of the injured workers was rescued from the top of a bridge pillar, with QRT officials performing a daring rappelling operation to bring him down from the 100-meter-high structure.
The coordinated efforts of the Border Security Force (BSF), NDRF, and police are still in action, and medical teams from various hospitals are providing aid. The Young Mizo Association (YMA) is also actively participating in the rescue operation.
Railway authorities have initiated a high-level committee to investigate the situation and address the incident.