28 workers pulled out safely as rescue op at Kannauj Railway Station concludes
Kannauj (UP), Jan 12: The rescue operation at the Kannauj Railway Station following a building collapse concluded Sunday morning with rescuers pulling out 28 workers safely after a 16-hour-long operation though the night, officials said.
They said all the rescued workers have been admitted to a hospital for treatment. No fatalities have been reported.
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 force and the railways, worked through the cold night to clear the debris and safely pull out the trapped workers.
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 for 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.
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China confirms its support to Pakistan during four-day conflict with India
Beijing (PTI): China, for the first time, has confirmed that it provided on-site technical support to Pakistan during the four-day conflict with India last year, official media reports here said.
China's state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday aired an interview with Zhang Heng, an engineer from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China's (AVIC) Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, a key developer of China’s advanced fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle design.
Zhang had provided technical support to Pakistan during the four-day war last May, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported, quoting CCTV.
Pakistan's air force operates a fleet of Chinese-made J-10CE jets, produced by an AVIC subsidiary.
"At the support base, we frequently heard the roar of fighter jets taking off and the constant wail of air-raid sirens. By late morning, in May, the temperature was already approaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). It was a real ordeal for us, both mentally and physically,” Zhang said.
What drove his team was the "desire to do an even better job with on site support” and to ensure their equipment could “truly perform at its full combat potential”, Zhang told CCTV.
“That wasn’t just a recognition of the J10CE; it was also a testament to the deep bond we formed through working side by side, day in and day out,” he said.
