Yogi government cuts toll in Varanasi mishap

Lucknow: After officially confirming 18 deaths in the flyover collapse in Varanasi on Tuesday evening, the Yogi Adityanath government, on Wednesday morning, lowered the number of casualties and claimed that only 15 people had died in the incident.

The government spokesman released a list of 15 persons who had died in the incident but sources in Varanasi said that the casualties were much higher.

Sources said that three bodies remained unidentified so far.

The state government has now stated that only 11 persons have suffered injuries in the accident.

While two patients were released after treatment three are under treatment at the Shri Shiv Prasad Gupta divisional hospital at Kabir Chaura and five at the Trauma Centre of Sir Sunderlal Hospital at Banaras Hindu University(BHU) and one person has been admitted to a private hospital in Varanasi.

Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath who reached Varanasi around midnight on Tuesday, said on Wednesday that preliminary action had been taken against officials responsible for the mishap. The chief minister also visited hospitals to meet the injured persons and ordered free treatment for them.

Chief project manager H.C. Tiwari,  project manager K.R. Sudan, assistant engineer Rajendra Singh and junior engineer Lalchand have been placed under suspension.

The FIR, filed on Wednesday, does not name anyone but lists officials in supervisory positions and contractors to whom jobs were outsourced. The cases have been filed under sections of negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The UP State Bridge Corporation (which was constructing the flyover) managing director Rajan Mittal, meanwhile, said that the concerned officials had written a letter to the district administration in Varanasi to divert traffic from the construction site but the same was not done.