Varanasi flyover collapse: 18 dead, FIR against govt-run corporation; top 10 developments

The incident took place after a portion of an under construction flyover collapsed near Cantonment railway station in Varanasi. (Express photo)

READ | FIR against officials in Varanasi flyover collapse; govt-run corpn faced flak earlier too

2. After the incident, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a high-level committee, headed by Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) Raj Pratap Singh on Wednesday, to probe the incident. The commitee was also directed to submit a report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the next 48 hours.

3. Top leadership including Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah and UP CM Adityanath expressed grief over the incident. The PM also discussed the mishap with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister over phone.

4. Both the district magistrate as well as the commissioner were asked to take up rescue operations at war footing with the help of police as well as NDRF teams who are also present at the spot. Before that UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as well as State Minister Nilkhand Tiwari also rushed to the spot with a technical team.

READ MORE | Man held for charging money from families of flyover collapse victims: Minister

5. According to latest information, death of eighteen people had been confirmed. CM Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs five lakh for families of the deceased and Rs two lakh for families of those injured in the incident.

RELATED : Varanasi flyover collapse: Woman has narrow escape, loses husband, son

6. A 45-year-old woman, Kumkum Singh had a narrow escape in the mishap but she lost her husband and son. She was on her way to Varanasi’s Cantonment railway station along with her husband to drop their aspiring engineer-son there en route to Kota on Tuesday when a concrete slab from an under construction flyover fell on their car. The woman survived with a minor head injury. Her husband and retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, R B Singh (46) and son Vaibhav (15) were not as lucky.  They were crushed to death as the car’s front side took the maximum impact.

Kumkum Singh had a narrow escape in the mishap but she lost her husband and son.

7. On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said that a man was arrested for allegedly charging money from families at the BHU mortuary for handing over bodies of those killed in the Varanasi flyover collapse. An official in Varanasi said the employee, who worked as a sweeper at mortuary, had allegedly demanded Rs 200 bribe from the families of two victims. The Class IV employee was suspended by the DM following a complaint against him.

8. The UP police has registered an FIR against officials of the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd, a government-run entity that has faced criticism also in the past over the standard of its work.

9. The said corporation had received flak earlier also after some bridges built by it developed cracks. There has also been controversy over managing director Rajan Mittal, who was removed from the post by the previous Samajwadi party government but reinstated after the BJP came to power in the state.

10. Later on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PM Relief Fund for the kin of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 each to those who were seriously injured in the tragedy.