A railway bridge being built across a ravine in India’s northeastern Mizoram state has collapsed, killing at least 17 labourers working on the project, officials said, with many others reported missing.
Video footage posted by Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Wednesday showed a metal frame that had toppled off towering columns into a wooded valley below.
“Under construction railway over bridge at Sairang, near Aizawl collapsed today; at least 17 workers died,” Zoramthanga, who uses only one name, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Indian media quoted a policeman as saying that 17 bodies had been recovered and “many others” were missing. The reports of missing people could not immediately be verified.
“Rescue operations are underway and all possible assistance is being given to those affected,” officials said.
Bridge collapses and other deadly accidents on large infrastructure construction sites are common in India.
In October last year, a colonial-era suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi in the western state of Gujarat, killing 135.
In June, a suspension bridge being built in the country’s poorest state of Bihar collapsed, killing one person.
