Kannauj rly station building collapse: 28 workers rescued, many feared trapped
Pankaj Kumar Singh, spokesperson for North East Railways, said an inquiry had been ordered into the incident
An under-construction building at Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj railway station collapsed on Saturday afternoon, initially trapping around 40 workers under the debris, officials said.
By late night, 28 workers had been rescued and admitted to various hospitals in Kannauj, Kanpur, and Lucknow districts, said commissioner, Kanpur division, K Vijayendra Pandiyan.
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“The rescue work is going on. We are using drones, sniffer dogs and other equipment to locate those who might still be trapped under the debris,” he said. Meanwhile, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) continued clearing the rubble.
Eyewitnesses said a 150-foot-long, 45-foot-wide slab was being laid at a height of 20 feet when the station-side scaffolding became unhinged, causing the structure to fall rapidly.
As per Pankaj Kumar Singh, spokesperson for North East Railways, an inquiry had been ordered into the incident and financial assistance of ₹2.5 lakh each would be provided to those seriously injured and ₹50,000 to those with minor injuries.
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An investigation would be conducted by the additional divisional railway manager of the Izzat Nagar division, the chief engineer of planning and design and the chief safety commissioner, he added.
The construction is part of the Amrit Bharat project aimed at redeveloping the station. Station master Anand Prasad said the work had been going on for the last two months.
Pillars had been completed and workers were in the process of laying the concrete slab, which was intended to house all the offices before the actual renovation of the station building.
A worker, Panna Lal, who survived unscathed in the mishap, said there were around 40 workers at the site. The work had resumed just after the lunch break, and half of the slab had already been laid. Four to five workers were managing the iron and bamboo scaffolds near the station’s entrance.
“Suddenly, the structure began crumbling at this end. Within minutes, the entire slab came down. I was in the corner and ran out as here were screams all around,” he recalled.
Panic spread quickly as workers and onlookers screamed for help. Some workers struggled to free themselves from the rubble while others tried desperately to lift fallen beams and slabs. Dust and debris filled the air, making it difficult to see or breathe.
Amid the confusion, the sounds of machinery, shouting and desperate cries for help echoed at the site. People from the station and nearby areas rushed to assist, managing to pull six people out of the debris and rushed them to the district hospital using e-rickshaws.
Following the collapse, the Kannauj Nagar Palika sent a team with bulldozers and cranes to assist the police and RPF personnel in rescue operation which was hindered as it became dark.
The local administration arranged lights to be installed on the cranes and bulldozers. Five of the injured were referred to Lucknow, two to Kanpur, while 15 were admitted to Government Medical College located at Kannauj’s Tirwa and the district hospital. Six others escaped unhurt. A Ballia-based firm was carrying out the construction work.
