Building collapse at Kannauj station: All trapped workers rescued after 16-hour operation

Building collapse at Kannauj station: All trapped workers rescued after 16-hour operation

All 28 workers trapped under the debris of a collapsed under-construction building at Kannauj railway station were safely rescued after a 16-hour operation, officials said.

26 of the workers were taken to various hospitals in Kannauj, while the other two, with more serious injuries, were transferred to Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital in Kanpur.

Hospital sources confirmed that the two workers admitted to LLR Hospital are now out of danger.

One worker suffered a head injury, while the other sustained a leg injury.

No fatalities have been reported, the officials said.

The shuttering of the under-construction building at the station collapsed on Saturday afternoon, trapping the workers inside.

Rescue teams, including personnel from national and state disaster response forces as well as the railways, worked through the cold night to remove the debris and safely rescue the trapped workers.

Kannauj District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukl visited the site early on Sunday, expressing relief that no lives were lost in the incident.

CCTV footage from the site shows a worker attempting to fix the shuttering when the roof collapses. The footage indicates that a beam being carried by the worker struck the shuttering, causing it to slip and collapse.

The North Eastern Railway (NER) formed a three-member committee on Saturday to investigate the cause of the building collapse.

The committee will consist of the chief engineer (planning and design), the additional divisional railway manager (Izzatnagar), and the chief security commissioner of the Railway Protection Force.

The construction was part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to improve the infrastructure of Kannauj railway station.

NER officials have also announced ex gratia payments for the injured workers: Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries and up to Rs 2.5 lakh for those with serious injuries.