All 28 UP workers trapped in building rubble rescued after 16-hour operation

All 28 workers trapped under the rubble of a collapsed under-construction building at Kannauj railway station were pulled out safely after a 16-hour-long overnight operation, officials said on Sunday.

Of the rescued workers, 26 of them have been admitted to various hospitals in Kannauj, while the rest two with serious injuries shifted to the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital in Kanpur, they said.

The two workers admitted at the LLR Hospital are out of danger, hospital sources said. One of them has a head injury while another sustained leg injury, as per the sources. No fatalities have been reported, the officials said.

The shuttering of the under-construction building on the station premises had collapsed Saturday afternoon, trapping the workers.

The rescue teams, including personnel from the national and state disaster response forces and the railways, worked through the cold night to clear the debris and safely pull out the trapped workers.

Kannauj District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukl visited the site early on Sunday, expressing relief that no lives were lost in the tragic incident.

CCTV footage from the site has surfaced, showing a labourer attempting to fix the shuttering (a temporary structure used to support concrete) when the roof collapses. The footage suggests that a beam carried by the worker hit the shuttering, causing it to slip and ultimately collapse.

The North Eastern Railway (NER) on Saturday formed a three-member committee to investigate the cause of the collapse. The committee will include the chief engineer (planning and design), the additional divisional railway manager (Izzatnagar) and the chief security commissioner of the Railway Protection Force. The construction was being carried out as part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), aimed at enhancing the infrastructure of Kannauj railway station. NER officials have announced ex gratia for the injured workers: Rs 50,000 for those with minor injuries and up to Rs 2.5 lakh for those with serious injuries.