Bridge collapse toll rises to 10
PTI | 06:12 PM,Dec 21,2011Gangtok, Dec 21 (PTI) The toll in the Rangchang bridge collapse in East Sikkim rose to 10 today with the recovery of seven more bodies, officials said. Bodies of seven more persons were recovered this evening by rescue teams consisting of the Army, police, fire services and technical experts of Teesta Urja, from the 48-wheeler trailer truck on Dikchu-Mangan highway, they said. "The seven bodies recovered have been identified as those of Bholanath Gautam, Bisham Singh, Bhola, Rampal, Sakali Mohan Burman, Srinivasan Rao and Krishna Thakur," BDO Tintek, Tenzing Dorjee Denzongpa said. The bodies were recovered by the rescue teams after a lot of difficulty as they were trapped under heavy debris, he said. Meanwhile, Border Roads Organisation has started work on the old bridge alongside to open it for light vehicular traffic from tomorrow, official sources said. DIG Sreedhar Rao said the contractor for the bridge has been taken into custody and a criminal cases registered against him at Singtam Police Station. He has been remanded to police custody for five days. BRO Commander PKH Singh said the bridge had a capacity of 70 tonnes and it has not been ascertained whether it was technical failure or over-load that caused the collapse. The cause will be revealed only after a detailed enquiry is completed, he added. Singh also said that a BRO technical team had checked the Rangchang bridge after the September earthquake and had found it to be stable.
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