Building collapse at Kannauj station: All 28 trapped workers rescued after 16-hour operation

All 28 workers trapped under the debris of a collapsed under-construction building at Kannauj railway station were successfully rescued after a 16-hour overnight operation, officials reported on Sunday.

Of the rescued workers, 26 were admitted to various hospitals in Kannauj, while two others, who sustained serious injuries, were transferred to Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital in Kanpur. Hospital sources confirmed that both are now out of danger. One worker suffered a head injury, and the other sustained a leg injury.

Fortunately, no fatalities were reported in the incident. The building’s shuttering, a temporary support structure, collapsed on Saturday afternoon, trapping the workers inside. Rescue teams, including personnel from the national and state disaster response forces and the railways, worked tirelessly throughout the cold night to clear the rubble and rescue the trapped individuals.

Kannauj District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukl visited the site on Sunday morning and expressed relief that no lives were lost in the tragedy.

CCTV footage from the site surfaced, showing a worker attempting to adjust the shuttering when the roof collapsed. The footage suggests that a beam carried by the worker struck the shuttering, causing it to slip and eventually collapse.

The North Eastern Railway (NER) has formed a three-member committee to investigate the cause of the collapse. The committee will include the Chief Engineer (Planning and Design), the Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Izzatnagar), and the Chief Security Commissioner of the Railway Protection Force.

The construction project, part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), was aimed at improving the infrastructure of Kannauj railway station.

In response to the incident, NER officials have announced ex gratia payments: Rs 50,000 for workers with minor injuries and up to Rs 2.5 lakh for those with more serious injuries.