Bomikhal Flyover Collapse: CM announces ex-gratia, high-level inquiry; Panda Infra chief held

KalingaTV News Network

Bhubaneswar: Announcing an ex-gratia in Bomikhal Flyover collapse incident which took place again after a gap of eight months last night, leaving one labourer injured and another critical, CM Naveen Patnaik today announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next of the kin of the deceased.

Expressing deep grief on the incident, the CM also announced a high-level inquiry into the re-collapse and assured that all medical expenses of the injured will be borne by the government.

A portion of Bomikhal Flyover collapsed last night when the iron railing installation work for a pillar was underway and at least 10 labourers were present at the site. A pile of iron rods fell on two labourers after a support for it collapsed.

Some locals rushed to the spot after hearing the screams of the victims and tried to rescue the labourer duo identified as Ajay Bhumich (38) and Anand Kumar Nayak (23) who had been trapped under the railings. The duo could be rescued with the help of fire brigade teams after around 20 minutes.

While both the victims were rushed to the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar immediately after the incident, Ajay died under treatment a few minutes later. Anand was shifted to a private hospital in the city subsequently in the night.

On the other hand, the Commissionerate Police has arrested Pratap Kishor Panda, the chief of Panda Infra construction company which had undertaken the construction work of the flyover this morning. Panda had surrendered before police after the flyover re-collapse last night.

Khordha SP Nirmal Mishra and Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo had rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation last night.

Notably, a section of the under-construction flyover had collapsed on September 10 last year. One person had been killed and 10 others sustained injuries at that time.