Ramesh Kumar, a native of Madhya Pradesh had just come to the Curchorem railway station to book a ticket for his native state on May 27. Little did he realise that he would be soon taken to the Hospicio with a fractured thigh after coming down from a bridge.
the goan I network
MARGAO
A driver by occupation, Ramesh, was one of the six injured, who were rushed to the Hospicio hospital after being rescued when he came crashing down from the ill-fated footbridge at Curchorem on Thursday evening. “I decided to go on one of the bridges to see the ongoing rescue operation after I found the station ticket counter closed. I got on to the ill-fated bridge just to hand over a cell phone to a person, after it had fallen down. Within moments, the footbridge came down,” Ramesh Kumar recalled.
Victor Daniel (40), a resident of Curchorem, had a miraculous escape as he swam safely with his one hand, as his other hand was incapacitated in a road accident. Victor’s artificial left eye fell into the water after he came crashing down from the bridge, but he managed to swim safely with his one hand. “We had just gone to the footbridge to see the rescue operation when the footbridge came down. I have lost my artificial left eye in the water, but I managed to swim ashore,” he said.
Another injured Rajaram Gaonkar, a resident of Panchwadi, was proceeding home after work when he too joined others on the footbridge to see the rescue operation, only to land in the waters. “There were around 40-50 persons on the bridge when it collapsed. The bridge suddenly collapsed without any distress signals,” he said.
All the six persons have been admitted in the male surgery ward of the Hospicio after receiving first aid at the casualty.
Hospicio PRO Sarfaraj Sheikh told The Goan at the hospital late Thursday evening that Hospicio has received around six injured persons till 10.30 pm. “We have made arrangements to treat the injured. A team from Hospicio has rushed to Curchorem. There are adequate number of beds to admit the patients. Doctors have been kept standby to meet any emergency,” Sarfaraj told
The Goan.
Question arises why unused
footbridge was
not dismantled
MARGAO: Social activist Sanjay Desai has demanded to know why the PWD did not dismantle the ill-fated footbridge if it was not in use at the river.
Hailing from Curchorem, Desai visited the Hospicio hospital on Thursday evening to inquire into the condition of the injured. He told the media that the PWD authorities cannot abdicate their responsibility. “If the bridge was not in use, it should have been dismantled by the PWD. The question arises how the bridge was not dismantled and whether the PWD had at any time carried out the structural stability test of the bridge,” Desai questioned.
