Darjeeling: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit the site of a bridge collapse in Bijonbari area of West Bengal's Darjeeling district on Sunday, a day after 31 people lost their lives in the incident. Several others were also injured in the mishap.
Banerjee would visit the area along with Railway Minster Dinesh Trivedi and Union Minister of State for Health Sudip Bandopadhyay.
The old wooden footbridge over a spring gave way under pressure of a crowd during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting.
Chief Medical Officer Health (CMOH) of Darjeeling Subir Bhowmick said over 60 people were injured. He added that the seriously injured have been admitted to North Bengal Medical College Hospital at Siliguri and at the Darjeeling Hospital.
The Darjeeling district administration has said rescue operations are being conducted by fire brigade, police and the disaster management personnel.
The Army has also been requested to send a team to help in the rescue operation.
An Army spokesman said a 40-member team of the Mountain Brigade along with a medical team was on its way to Bijanbari at the request of the district administration.
North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb is supervising the rescue operations.
ANI
First Published: Sunday, October 23, 2011, 11:01