‘Bridge had no railing, no warning sign, no light’ | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Even as rescue operations continued late into the night, locals said sheer negligence in road construction safety was to blame for the tragedy.Residents and bystanders at the accident site pointed out that the under-construction bridge lacked basic safety infrastructure. “There was no streetlight on the stretch and no railing was installed on the bridge,” said Sumit Kumar, a villager, adding that darkness made the spot particularly dangerous for vehicles past sunset. He was one of the first to arrive and rescue passengers stuck in the bus.“Wherever there is road construction, the department is supposed to install boards saying ‘Work in Progress, Please Drive Slowly.’ Here, there was no such board, no barricade, nothing to alert drivers,” said a student, Manas Kumar, who was heading home to Lucknow in a car right behind the bus and rushed to help the injured.Several residents questioned why a water tanker was sprinkling the road surface at night when visibility was already poor. “Sprinkling water in complete darkness made the stretch all the more slippery. Either the work should have been stopped after dark or proper floodlights and generators should have been installed to ensure visibility,” said Vikas Prasad, who rushed to the spot after hearing a loud crashing sound.
