Mumbai: One person has died and eight are reported injured after a 50-metre section of the Andheri-Ghatkopar bridge, a major project under construction on Line 1, came crashing down around 4.30 this evening.

Two fire engines and two ambulances have been rushed to the spot and the injured persons have been taken to the Seven Hills Hospital. Eyewitnesses say they fear more people could be trapped in the debris but there is no confirmation on this. A huge mesh of metal spikes has to be removed before it can be confirmed that no one else is trapped.

A crowd has gathered at the site hampering clearing work and the authorities are trying to keep people away. As night falls, rescue and clearing work is expected to get more difficult and to hasten the process, more cranes might be pressed into service, which could even lead to the road being blocked for some time.

This part of the overhead metro bridge is on the crowded Andheri-Kurla road that leads to the airport and the collapse is expected to cause traffic pile-ups in this business area. This is also peak time for road traffic in Mumbai.

This is not the first accident on this project. In April this year, part of a 400-tonne crane fell off the truck it was being carried in and crashed into the Sarvodaya Hospital in Ghatkopar. In July, a construction worker fell to his death while building the Andheri segment of the line.

The metro rail project is a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure, Veolia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and is supposed to be completed in 2021. It will have eight lines at a total cost of R 36,000 crore. But it has been plagued with both cost and time over-runs.

Mumbai has been getting heavy rainfall for the last 24 hours with flights and trains running late. Yesterday, a landslide took place in Chembur.