Balangir: Two labourers were killed when a pillar of the Suktel bridge collapsed near Patnagarh in Odisha’s Balangir district on Wednesday morning.
The incident took place when some labourers were engaged in the repair of the pillar.
Following information, police and Fire Services personnel and senior officials of the Works Department rushed to the spot and brought the bodies of the two labourers out from the debris. Apprehending that some workers might be lying under the debris, the search and rescue operation has been intensified, reports said.
Following the incident, the road communication to Tamia in Madhya Pradesh and Mudalsar in Patnagarh panchayat has been disrupted.
Notably, Ram Kumar Agrawal Engineers Private Limited had taken up the construction of the 183-metre bridge, the foundation stone which was laid on January 7, 2014. The bridge was completed on July 3, 2015, at an estimated cost of Rs 7 crore.
The Works Department had rewarded the company for completing the construction of the bridge ahead of the schedule.
Though the media had later brought to the notice of the government about one of the pillars of the bridge being compressed due to poor construction work, the firm had said that the pillar needed minor repair.
