At least 16 people were killed and 4 others were injured after a girder launcher machine, being used in the construction of Phase III of the Samruddhi Express Highway, collapsed in Thane. The accident took place in the wee hours of Tuesday.
A bridge construction was underway near Sarlambe village in Thane, when the accident took place in the wee hours of Tuesday. A rescue and search operation is underway by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as more people are feared trapped under the debris.
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The crane and slab connecting the girder machine fell from a height of 100 feet, resulting in a major accident. The dead bodies were taken to a local hospital, along with those injured.
“We got information about the incident at around 1:30 am and our first team started the rescue operation around 5:30 am. Our search and rescue operation is still underway. Sniffer dogs have also been used for rescue,” NDRF Assistant Commandant Sarang Kurve was quoted as saying by ANI.
The girder machine is used to install precast box girders in highway and high-speed rail bridge construction projects.
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The Samruddhi Mahamarg which is named as Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.
The expressway passes through ten districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane.
The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022 which covers a distance of 520 km. In May, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said that the third and the last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.