Foot overbridge collapses in Laxmi Nagar
The overbridge collapsed late on Sunday night after a crane hit the structure and dragged it for a few metres
A portion of a foot overbridge on a busy stretch in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar collapsed late on Sunday night after a crane hit the structure and dragged it for a few metres. While no injuries were reported in the incident, vehicular movement was disrupted for nearly two hours, police said on Monday.
Meanwhile, police registered a case in the matter and arrested the 28-year-old crane driver, Neeraj Khani, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur.
The incident took place at around 12.34am on the road near Lalita Park. When police reached the spot, they found a trailer loaded with a crane near Akshardham Temple. “The trailer’s driver had loaded the crane and was transporting it to Burari via Geeta Colony Pusta Road. At sround 12.30am, when the trailer was crossing the foot overbridge, a part of a crane hit the bridge and got stuck to it briefly due to which a portion of the bridge collapsed,” deputy commissioner of police (east) Amrutha Guguloth said.
The driver then dragged the trailer for over two feet and the other end of the broken bridge fell on the road,” a police officer present at the spot said, adding that the driver was apprehended from the spot.
He was booked under sections 279 (rash driving) and 427 (causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code, the DCP said.
According to the police, a major accident was averted as the incident took place late in the night on the otherwise busy highway that goes towards Saharanpur.
Though no injuries were reported in the incident, eye-witnesses told police that three people sleeping on the bridge fell when the bridge collapsed. However, they ran away shortly after and didn’t report any injuries.
Traffic movement too was impacted for nearly two hours but was cleared subsequently. “Traffic police and local staff diverted the traffic till the time the bridge was lying on the road. A crane was then called and it was moved to the side where its now lying. The area where the collapsed section of the bridge is lying has been cordoned off,” the officer cited above said.