Darjeeling: At least 24 persons were killed and over 60 injured when an old wooden footbridge over a spring gave way under the pressure of a crowd during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting at Bijanbari in Darjeeling district on Saturday.
District Magistrate Saumitra Mohan said 24 persons were killed and over 60 were injured when the bridge over Little Rangeet collapsed, about 30 km from Darjeeling.
Superintendent of Police Anand Kumar said the death toll might go up.
The bridge, which had been weakened by the September 18 earthquake, collapsed when a large number of people gathered on it for the GJM meeting.
North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb, who was at the spot, said the rescue operation was on in full swing and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was personally monitoring and supervising it.
Darkness was posing a problem in rescue operations, Kumar said. (PTI)
