Four labourers were killed after a National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) bridge collapsed on Sunday during load testing at Uri. The toll will rise as the rescue operation is underway and around 23 people, including six pedestrians, are feared buried under the debris. This bridge over the Jhelum connected Bandi village to Parampillan that further connects Salamabad through an alternate road. The first half of the 130- feet bridge, first of its kind in the Kashmir valley, was made of concrete while the other half of iron.“We have recovered three bodies so far. An injured labourer also succumbed,” Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Uri, Niresh Jamwal, told The Indian Express. On Sunday morning when the construction company was testing the bridge for load, its iron part collapsed. “The iron sheets were placed first. However, when sand bags were put over the sheets, the bridge collapsed," said Irshad Ahmad, an eyewitness. “The part of the bridge, made of iron, couldn't withstand the load.”Soon after the accident, the J-K Police and Army launched a rescue operation. Till late in the evening, only three bodies were retrieved. “Twenty-three people, including six locals, are feared to have come under the collapsed bridge,” said SDPO Jamwal.The J-K Police had suspended the rescue operation in the evening but resumed it after the Army arranged special flash lights. The bridge that rested only on two pillars on two banks of the Jehlum was around 300 meters above the river. Officials at the NHPC said the load testing was being carried out by a construction company. “The bridge was being tested for weight when the mishap happened,” said a senior official of NHPC, Dr Wara Prasad. “A Chandigarh-based company, Sham Lal Gupta and brothers, had bagged the contract for the construction of the bridge.” The J-K Police have registered a case of negligence against the construction firm. “A case under Sections 304 A (negligence) and 167 (Death caused without intention) has been registered against the construction company,” said SDPO Jamwal.
