Gujarat: Three workers dead in collapse of structure on Bullet Train route
Anand (Guj), Nov 5: Three workers died as a temporary structure collapsed at a construction site on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor in Gujarat's Anand district on Tuesday evening, officials said.
The incident took place at Vasad village located on the under-construction Bullet Train route, said district Superintendent of Police Gaurav Jasani.
Police officials earlier said that part of an under-construction bridge collapsed.
However, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) which is executing the project later said a temporary structure of steel and concrete blocks being used for well foundation work fell down.
The site is near the Mahi river near Vadodara, an NHSRCL official said.
A Vasad police station official confirmed that three workers had died and another was undergoing treatment at hospital.
In all four workers were trapped under concrete blocks and two of them died on the spot, said Anand fire officer Dharmesh Gor.
"One of the victims who was rescued alive was declared dead at hospital," he said.
The fallen blocks were being removed to ensure that no other workers were trapped underneath, Gor added.
As rescuers used cranes and excavators to remove the concrete blocks under which the victims were trapped, some of the locals too pitched in.
On completion, the 508-km bullet train project is expected to reduce the travel time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to around 3 hours from the current 6 to 8 hours.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
