Bhopal:  A portion of a foot-over-bridge (FOB) collapsed at the Bhopal railway station on Thursday morning, leaving ten persons, mostly passengers, injured, officials said. Seven of them have suffered grievously injuries and two of them are in the ICU, said West Central Railway (WCR) additional general manager (AGM) Shobhan Chaudhary, who visited the mishap spot.

The mishap took place around 9 am when the slab of a ramp connecting the FOB between platform Nos. 2 and 3 collapsed, officials said, adding a probe has been ordered. The victims were mostly passengers who were standing under the ill-fated FOB, Bhopal railway division’s public relations officer I A Siddique said. The figure of the injured persons stand revised (from eight earlier). They are ten in number, Chaudhary told PTI over the phone after arriving here by a train from Jabalpur, where the WCR is headquartered.

Seven are grievously injured that means with fractures. Three others have sustained simple (minor) wounds, Chaudhary added after visiting the injured at private Chirayu Hospital here. Two people are in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Both are not critical. They are in their senses. I talked to them in person. According to doctors, they are stable, Chaudhary added.

Chaudhary admitted the collapse exposed the Railway administration’s failure to maintain its infrastructure. It is slackness on our part. It is a failure, no doubt. It is Railways failure, Chaudhary said and teremd the incident as unfortunate. We are also putting our medical team (on the job). We will give them (the injured) best possible medical aid, the WCR additional general manager said.

Senior administrative officers from WCR will commence a probe into the incident in a day or two, Chaudhary added. “The main civil engineer for our infrastructure along with his team has accompanied me to Bhopal. Besides threefour expert doctors have come with me from Jabalpur, the AGM said. Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Minister P C Sharma said the state government will pay Rs 50,000 each to severely injure and Rs 10,000 each to those who suffered minor wounds.

Meanwhile, WCR Chief Public Relations Officer Priyanka Dixit said ex-gratia amount to the victims is being paid as per guidelines of the Railway Board. Besides all medical expenses on treatment of the injured at Chirayu Hospital till they are discharged will be borne by the Railways, she added.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a tweet, said he was saddened over the tragedy, and directed the local administration to provide all assistance to the injured. He prayed for the speedy recovery of the victims.

PTI