Five die as Indian bridge collapses

ONE section of a bridge being built for the Indian capital’s metro rail system collapsed yesterday, crushing to death five workers and injuring 13 in a major setback to the project that officials hope to complete before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

New Delhi’s landmark metro rail project is already operating three lines and is working around the clock to build several extensions. The metro is the pride of the city, where commuters were long forced to rely on smoke-belching buses, rickety three-wheel motorised rickshaws or their own motorcycles.

The project was particularly notable because it opened on schedule about seven years ago – an almost unheard of feat in India, where corruption-related overruns are common.