A 60-foot iron bridge over a drain collapsed in north Delhi's Roop Nagar area on Tuesday morning, killing a woman, officials said. Police said the bridge had been declared unsafe and was closed for public movement with barricades. Locals informed that the woman, who seemed to be a beggar, would often sit at one end of the bridge.A PCR call regarding the bridge collapse was received at around 9.28 am, following which police and emergency teams rushed to the spot, police said. The bridge was found to have collapsed into the drain below.Rescue personnel recovered the body of the woman, believed to be around 50 years old, a senior police officer said.
Personnel from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Police carried out coordinated rescue operations at the site. Multiple fire tenders were pressed into service for it. Visuals showed rescue personnel sliding down the broken bridge using ropes to get to the drain to find the woman. Police said efforts are underway to ascertain her identity. An NDRF official said they received information about the incident around 10.15 am.
"On assessing the situation, we found that the drain had a strong current. Locals suggested that a woman had fallen into it. We were preparing to deploy our divers, but by then, a team from the Delhi Boat Club had already reached the spot and retrieved the body," the official said. Police said the bridge belonged to the irrigation and flood control department and had been declared unsafe earlier. It had barricades and was closed for public movement, they added. "We heard a loud noise and rushed to the spot," said Mayank, a resident of the area. "The bridge was in a dilapidated condition and had been barricaded from both sides to prevent movement. However, people continued to use it despite warnings," he said. The beggar who died used to sit near the bridge that collapsed, said Mayank, who was also an RWA general secretary.