One dead body still untraced

RANGCHANG BRIDGE COLLAPSE UPDATE
OLD BRIDGE RESTORED, AWAITS OFFICIAL PERMISSION TO ACCEPT TRAFFIC
MANGAN, 21 Dec:  The dead body of K Srinivasan Rao, an engineer with Teesta Urja, is yet to be recovered from the debris of the Rangchang Bridge which collapsed on 19 December. Mr. Rao was on board the 48-wheeler when the bridge collapsed as the trailer was crossing it on Monday afternoon. The dead bodies of the remaining seven people, including two pedestrians, killed in the bridge collapse have been retrieved, with the seventh body pulled out late on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, the search and rescue team was at work throughout the daylight hours at the site today, negotiating the broken slabs and huge chunks of concrete which have flattened the 48-wheel trailer under it. Thus far, the dead body has not even been spotted. The recovery team can begin planning how to cut through the debris only after the dead body is spotted.
The recovery team is headed by Additional SP [Home Guards], Suren Kr. Pradhan, and SDPO [Rangpo], Linda Palmu. A team of technical experts from Teesta Urja is working under their directions.
Alongside the collapsed bridge spans the old Rangchang Bridge which is being refurbished to carry at least light traffic by the Border Roads Organisation. At present, vehicles have to take a detour from Dikchu to Dipu Dara on to Khamdong and down to Singtam and commuters have the option of transhipment as well at this spot, walking across the old bridge.
Today, BRO completed the restoration work on the old bridge, and given the shock of the two year old new bridge collapsing, invested a long time to test the load bearing capacity of the old bridge. Even the transhipment of commuters was held for four hours today for the load testing exercise to complete. After all the requisite tests, BRO has fixed the load limit for the old bridge at 5 tonnes.
A BRO official at the spot informed that the organisation will now officially write to the Police Department and concerned departments stipulating the load limit and specifying that it was advisable to allow only light vehicles on the old bridge.
Vehicular access to the old bridge, it was informed, will be allowed only after Sikkim Police and the administration grant permission.
As a precautionary measure, BRO will also place an iron bar across the bridge to limit the height of vehicles which can pass over it.
Meanwhile, the Tintek BDO, Tenzing Dorjee Denzongpa, handed over the ex-gratia payment of Rs. 1 lakh each to the families of the two Tumin-Barang residents, Thal Bahadur Gautam and Bholanath Gautam, who were killed in the mishap. They were walking across the bridge, going over to meet relatives at Kokaley when the bridge collapsed.