A railway bridge under construction in India has collapsed killing at least 26 workers and injuring two, police said, as the state-run railway authority opened an investigation.
The incident happened on Wednesday in the town of Sairang in the north-eastern state of Mizoram, its chief minister, Zoramthanga, said on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Media reported that up to 40 workers were at the site when the bridge collapsed but police said 28 workers were present. A state police official who declined to be identified said: “Rescue workers have been able to recover 13 bodies so far. Efforts are on to recover the remaining bodies.”
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement on X that the incident occurred during work on the Bhairbi-Sairang line railway project.
The NRF said on its website the project would connect Mizoram to the rest of India, boosting “tourism and socioeconomic development”.
A high-level inquiry committee had been established to investigate, the NFR said.
The prime minister, Narendra Modi, said “all possible assistance” was being given to those affected.
India’s extensive railway system is used by many millions of people every day. The government has launched high-speed trains as part of plans to modernise the network but critics say it has not focused enough on safety and upgrading ageing infrastructure.
At least 288 people were killed in June in India’s worst rail crash in more than two decades. It was blamed on signal failure. In October last year, a colonial-era suspension bridge collapsed in the western state of Gujarat killing 135 people.
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