Bihar officials begin search for guard 'missing' after Bhagalpur bridge collapse

BHAGALPUR: Disaster Response officials on Monday said that they are searching for one person working as a guard at the site of the under-construction bridge over River Ganga in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar, which collapsed a day ago.

The guard had been reported missing after the bridge collapse. Chandan Kumar, Circle Officer, Parbatta, Bihar told ANI,

"After the bridge collapse, a person working as a guard with SP Singla Company is said to be missing. His body has not been recovered yet. Search by SDRF and NDRF teams is underway to trace him."

On Sunday, an under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur collapsed.

The moment when the bridge collapsed in the Ganga River was caught on video by locals.

The collapse of the bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur stoked a war of words between the state government and the opposition BJP. Following the bridge collapse, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Vijay Kumar Sinha slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's governance and said, "There is a tradition of seeking commission (bribe) in this government. It is a consequence of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar mentality of political instability that there's administrative anarchy and corruption. System is collapsing but they are talking about Opposition unity." He further stated that there should be an immediate enquiry into the incident.

"There needs to be accountability in this incident. Those involved in corruption in the government have fixed their commissions. Where is your zero tolerance on the corruption?" he added.

Soon after the collapse of the bridge, CM Nitish Kumar ordered a probe into the collapse of an under-construction bridge in Bhagalpur and has asked the officials to identify those responsible for the incident.