Railway's history is abound with stories of old bridges to have collapsed under the weight of moving trains, but this is the first time that a bridge has fallen on a train. Recently, a freak accident snuffed out 40 lives when a 150-years old overbridge, being dismantled, came tumbling down on a train near Bhagalpur in Bihar. It saddened as well as amused many as they had heard of bridges collapsing due to the weight of trains, but a bridge falling on a train, killing and trapping dozens of passengers under an avalanche of brick and cement, amused every one!
The freak accident occurred on the morning of December 1, 2006, when the third pillar and arch of the bridge, known as Ulta Pul, collapsed on the sleeper coach, reportedly because of the vibration caused by the running train. The impact drove the coach into the ground. The accident, the first in the history of Railways indeed calls for extensive repair and rehabilitation of Railways big inventory of old bridges.
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