Online Desk:  At least 17 workers were killed today when an under-construction railway bridge on a river collapsed near Sairang area of the north eastern Indian state of Mizoram, a police officer said. “Several others are feared trapped at the site as 35-40 workers were present at the time of the incident which took place at around 10:00am, about 21 km from Aizawl,” he said.

“Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the debris so far… many others are still missing,” the officer was quoted by the Indian media, reports our New Delhi correspondent. .

“The bridge that collapsed was part of an Indian Railways project to connect all state capitals in the northeast region and has been under construction for some years. “We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the accident and how many people actually were on it when it occurred,” Sabyasachi De, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), said.

The bridge was being constructed over Kurung river and is located between Bairabi and Sairang railway stations. The height of the pier of the bridge is 104mts. Sairang railway station is set to be the last railhead before reaching Mizoram’s capital Aizawl. Once completed, the project will connect Aizawl with the national railway network.