Arunachal Pradesh bridge collapse toll rises to 15

With nine more bodies recovered, the death toll in the October 29 bridge collapse at Seppa in East Kameng district has risen to 15, officials said on Monday.

Deputy Commissioner of East Kameng Tope Bam said nine more bodies were recovered on Sunday while one person identified as Pazo Sonam (45) is still missing.

After the bridge collapsed, the Army, ITBP, CRPF and State police had launched massive search operation and rescued 47 people with 10 in serious conditions.

The bridge collapsed on October 29 when 63 people, mostly children, were over the bridge to catch an insect locally known as ‘tari’.

The bridge was constructed in 1987 and commissioned in 1992.

He said a committee has been constituted to disburse the ex-gratia by identifying the right claimants.

“A medical board headed by district hospital’s medical superintendent has been constituted to physically verify those who sustained major and minor injuries for easy disbursement of the ex-gratia amount,” Mr. Bam said in the report.

The State government had already released an amount of 19 lakh as ex-gratia to the victims, while Congress President Sonia Gandhi gave six lakh and Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Takam Sanjoy announced ex-gratia payment of one lakh to the dead, 50,000 to those who received serious injury and 25,000 to those with minor injuries.