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.

E Sreedharan, the head of the Delhi Metro Rail Corp, has been hailed as a modern-day hero, but yesterday, he tendered his resignation to take moral responsibility for the collapse, which is a rare blemish in the largely successful project.

“This is a very, very serious accident,” said Sreedharan. He said he sent his resignation letter to New Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who has not yet said whether she will accept it.

The accident occurred on a particularly tricky section, where a 4km metal cantilever was being raised to attach to a long section of concrete girders, all of which tumbled down in a V-shape pile.

The area was cordoned off and cranes worked to clear the rubble to reopen the road underneath. A high-powered committee was appointed to find the cause of the accident and submit its report with 10 days, Sreedharan said.

He said two workers died at the accident site and three at the hospital.

Two of the 13 hospitalised workers are in serious condition, while the rest suffered only minor injuries.