Kolkata bridge collapse: Eastern Railway asks RITES to investigate

RITES Ltd, under the aegis of Indian Railways, is a multi-disciplinary consultancy organisation in the fields of transport, infrastructure and related technologies.

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Kolkata: The Eastern Railway has asked the state-run RITES Ltd to probe the collapse of the Majherhat bridge here and examine the safety of railway operations in it wake, an official said on Wednesday. "Our chief bridge engineer along with RITES team will be visiting the spot and it is a fact-finding team. The collapsed bridge was not under the Eastern Railway, but it was a railway over-bridge. That is why concerns are there," an Eastern Railway spokesperson said over the phone. RITES Ltd, under the aegis of Indian Railways, is a multi-disciplinary consultancy organisation in the fields of transport, infrastructure and related technologies. "They will investigate the possible reasons that caused the collapse and also examine the safety of railway operations under the bridge," the official said. A portion of a 40-year-old bridge collapsed in South Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon, crushing a man to death and leaving 19 injured and several vehicles damaged. Amid rains, the rescuers tried drilling the concrete slabs, used sophisticated cameras and engaged sniffer dogs to ensure anybody trapped under the rubble could be reached and rescued. Additional lighting arrangements were made to aid the rescue works at night, the officials said.