Click to play videoDarjeeling: The death toll in the Darjeeling bridge collapse rose to 34 on Sunday. Government announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for the kin of the dead and has assured to bear the expenses of the treatment.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be travelling to North Bengal on Sunday to visit the victims.
Over 60 people were injured when an old wooden footbridge over a spring gave way under the pressure of a crowd during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting at Bijanbari in Darjeeling district.
The bridge, which had been weakened by the September 18 earthquake, collapsed when a large number of people gathered on it for the GJM meeting.
North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb, who was at the spot, said the rescue operation was on in full swing and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was personally monitoring and supervising it.
Though the rescue team was using search lights, the darkness was posing a problem in the operation, Kumar said.
Asked whether many people were washed away by the current of Little Rangeet, he said he did not have any such information. "It was not much deep."
Gopal Roy, in-charge of the district disaster management, said the rescue operation was being conducted by the personnel of the fire brigade, police and the disaster management department.
Mamata Banerjee, who returned from New Delhi after the NDC meeting, said she would be in Darjeeling tomorrow along with Railway Minster Dinesh Trivedi and Union Minister of State for Health Sudip Bandopadhyay.
State Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan said all seriously injured persons were being shifted to the North Bengal Medial College Hospital.
Meanwhile, an army spokesman said it was sending a 40-member team of the Mountain Brigade, Darjeeling, along with a medical team, at Bijanbari at the request of the district magistrate.
With Additional Information from PTI
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