The District Magistrate of Varanasi Yogeshwar Mishra on Wednesday confirmed that the death toll in Varanasi under-construction flyover collapse incident is 15 whereas, 11 others are injured. “We are waiting for the findings that will come in investigation. I don’t want to comment on anything right now. All compensation will be given to victims soon. The death toll is 15 & people injured are 11,” he reportedly said.

Earlier in the day, the committee, constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the incident, visited the accident site. Raj Pratap Singh, member of the committee, took stock of the conditions at the spot of the tragedy. At least 15 bodies were recovered from the debris while, three persons were safely rescued on Tuesday. The death toll is expected to rise as the rescue operation is still underway. Seven teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), each comprising 45 personnel, were rushed to spot to carry out rescue operations. Damaged cars and other vehicles are being removed from the spot.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Raj Pratap said, “I can’t say anything at this moment. Until we complete the investigation, talk to everyone & check all the records, it won’t be right to say anything.” Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident, yesterday.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the victims of flyover collapse incident at Banaras Hindu University Trauma Center and Kabir Chaura Hospital. He has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of people, killed in the incident and a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the injured people.

CM Yogi Adityanath Expresses Grief

Earlier yesterday, expressing gried over the incident, CM Adityanath had said,”I express grief over the incident, my condolence with the affected families. I have sent Dy CM minister Neelkanth Tiwari to the spot. Formed committee to look into the incident, report to come in 48 hours.”

Officials Suspended

Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, while addressing the reporters on Tuesday evening, informed that Chief Project Manager HC Tiwari, Project Manager KR Sudan, Assistant Engineer Rajesh Singh and engineer Lal Chand have been suspended with immediate effect, after being held responsible for the accident.

PM Modi Condoles Varanasi Bridge Collapse Incident

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening took to Twitter to condole the unfortunate incident. “Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to the collapse of an under-construction flyover in Varanasi. I pray that the injured recover soon. Spoke to officials and asked them to ensure all possible support to those affected,” he tweeted. In another post, he said, “I spoke to UP CM Yogi Adityanath Ji regarding the situation. The UP Government is monitoring the situation very closely and is working on the ground to assist the affected.”