A labourer was killed after a construction segment slipped from a launching machine and fell at the under-construction Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway site in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district on Tuesday (August 25). The incident took place near Jakh village in Vijaypur during work on an elevated section of the expressway.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has clarified that there was no collapse of the elevated bridge and said the incident involved a segment that slipped during the construction process.
What Happened At The Construction Site?
According to NHAI, an elevated highway with 14 spans is being constructed as part of Package-15 of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway near Village Jakh. Each span consists of 15 segments, and work on 10 of the 14 spans had already been completed.
The incident occurred while work was underway on the 11th span. NHAI said that “during lifting of the end part of one of the segments in the 11th span, the same slipped from the launching machine and fell down on the ground.”
The authority further said that the bridge segments already launched on the 11th span remained intact and that the other elevated bridge spans already launched were also unaffected.
“NHAI would like to inform you that an unfortunate incident occurred on 25.08.2026,” the authority said, while stressing that “The report regarding the collapse of the bridge is false.”
NHAI Sends Expert Team
NHAI said there was “no structural failure in the bridge” and that an expert team was being sent to the site to examine the incident and ensure that such an occurrence does not happen again during the launching of segments.
The authority expressed condolences to the family of the deceased worker and said his next of kin would be “appropriately compensated as per applicable norms.”
The incident has nevertheless raised concerns over safety measures at major infrastructure construction sites, particularly as work on the strategically important Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway continues.