A highway overpass being built in north India collapsed, killing at least 18 people when an immense concrete slab slammed down onto the crowded road below, disaster officials said.
Five injured people were pulled from the wreckage, police said. Two were seriously hurt.
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A highway overpass being built in north India collapsed, killing at least 18 people when an immense concrete slab slammed down onto the crowded road below, disaster officials said.
Local media reports said that four officials from the state construction agency were suspended in the wake of the collapse on Tuesday.
"There was sudden rumble and within seconds we saw" the vehicles crushed, local resident Ramesh Kumar Singh said in a telelphone interview. "It took at least a minute for the people around to realize what exactly had happened."
India has a long history of construction accidents caused by poor materials and inadequately trained workers. In 2016, a long stretch of elevated road being built through the city of Calcutta collapsed, killing 26 people and leaving 11 severely injured.
Prime Minister Narendra, whose political home is in Varanasi, said in a tweet that he was "extremely saddened" by the accident. "I pray that the injured recover soon."
People look for survivors inside vehicles crushed when a section of an under construction overpass collapsed in Varanasi, India, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. At least a dozen people were reported to be killed in the accident. (AP Photo)
Local media reports said that four officials from the state construction agency were suspended in the wake of the collapse on Tuesday.
Rescuers and crane operators worked through the night in the city of Varanasi to try to reach all the victims, but more people were still feared trapped beneath the wreckage, which had crushed four cars, motorcycles and a bus. It was not clear how many people were in the vehicles. The slab appeared to be at least 50 feet (15 meters) long and 6 feet (2 meters) wide.
People look for survivors inside vehicles crushed when a section of an under construction overpass collapsed in Varanasi, India, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. At least a dozen people were reported to be killed in the accident. (AP Photo)
"There was sudden rumble and within seconds we saw" the vehicles crushed, local resident Ramesh Kumar Singh said in a telelphone interview. "It took at least a minute for the people around to realize what exactly had happened."
Most of those killed were in vehicles traveling beneath the overpass, said senior police officer P.V. Ramasastry.
The state's top official ordered a probe into the collapse. He also announced a 500,000 rupee ($7,200) payment to families of those who died.
People crowd around the site of an accident where a section of an under construction overpass collapsed in Varanasi, India, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. (AP Photo)
India has a long history of construction accidents caused by poor materials and inadequately trained workers. In 2016, a long stretch of elevated road being built through the city of Calcutta collapsed, killing 26 people and leaving 11 severely injured.
People crowd around the site of an accident where a section of an under construction overpass collapsed in Varanasi, India, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. (AP Photo)
Prime Minister Narendra, whose political home is in Varanasi, said in a tweet that he was "extremely saddened" by the accident. "I pray that the injured recover soon."
Cranes perform rescue tasks at the site of an accident where a section of an under construction overpass collapsed in Varanasi, India, Tuesday, May 15, 2018. (AP Photo)
Varanasi, an ancient temple city on the banks of the Ganges River, is a center of pilgrimage for Hindus.
CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses across the U.S. — and increasingly, in Europe.
Nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, the Rhode Island School of Design held talks with protesters occupying a building, and MIT dealt with a new encampment on a site that was cleared but immediately retaken by demonstrators.
The confrontations come as campuses try a range of strategies, from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, to resolve the protests against the Israel-Hamas war and clear the way for commencements.
At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal.
Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad early Tuesday as law enforcement dismantled the encampment. Officers later picked up a barricade erected to keep protesters out of the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.
“The protesters were given an opportunity to disassemble their structures and depart the encampment, and there have been no arrests,” school President Paul Alivisatos said in a message to the university community. “Where appropriate, disciplinary action will proceed.”
By 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the number of protesters had doubled to more than 200. About 30 minutes later, campus police removed a barricade and stepped aside to allow protesters back into the Quad where they gathered in front of Levi Hall, the campus administration building.
At MIT, protesters were given a Monday afternoon deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza break.
Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for two weeks and is calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.
No arrests had been made as of Monday night, according to the MIT spokesperson.
At the Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, a spokesperson said the school affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and it supports all members of its community. The RISD president and provost were meeting with the demonstrators, the spokesperson said.
The student protests have spread to Europe, where they are gaining momentum. Police arrested about 125 activists Tuesday as they broke up a camp at the University of Amsterdam, and German police dismantled an occupation at Berlin’s Free University. Students also have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.
Many protesters want their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and for the war to end.
Demonstrations at New York City's Columbia University, where the protest movement began about three weeks ago, have roiled its campus. Officials on Monday canceled its large main ceremony but said students will be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green or occupied an academic building were arrested in recent weeks.
Similar encampments sprouted up elsewhere, leading universities to struggle with where to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
The University of Southern California earlier canceled its main graduation ceremony. Students abandoned their camp at USC on Sunday after being surrounded by police and threatened with arrest. Other universities have held graduation ceremonies with beefed-up security. The University of Michigan's ceremony was interrupted by chanting a few times Saturday.
A group of faculty and staff members at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked the administration for amnesty for student protesters who were recently arrested and suspended.
Harvard University’s interim president, Alan Garber, warned students that those in an encampment in Harvard Yard could face “involuntary leave," meaning they would not be allowed on campus, could lose their student housing and might not be able to take exams.
At the University of California, San Diego, police cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students. The University of California, Los Angeles, moved classes online for the week because of disruptions after the dismantling of an encampment last week that resulted in 44 reported arrests.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press journalists around the U.S. and world contributed to this report, including Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk and Pietro de Cristofaro.
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protestors link arms and take back a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Protesters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gather around a tent encampment Monday evening, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass., after police and school officials failed to clear out the protest earlier in the day. (Steve LeBlanc)
A police officer watches demonstrators after hundreds crossed breached barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer walks between police and pro-Palestinian protesters as the police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A pro-Palestinian protester leads chants at the university's police as they are kept from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Demonstrators lock arms after crossing breeched barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A man cheers after fellow demonstrators breeched barricades that had been erected around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator carries supplies over breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators storm breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators tore down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A sign is seen on the fence in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A Pro-Palestinian protester is hit with a baton by a police officer at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A demonstrator carries a Palestinian flag beside a line of demonstrators Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators crossed torn down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police officers look on as a worker removes signs from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Pro-Palestinian protestors stand on Massachusetts Avenue near a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
A student protester works on her laptop in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Students and passersby watch from a nearby building steps as Pro-Palestinian protestors gather outside a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A student walks in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
New York City police officers stand on the Columbia University campus, amongst the equipment that was to be used to host a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer looks over the center of Columbia University, the usual site of a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer walks past seating that was to be used for a large graduation ceremony at Columbia University in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag at a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed breached barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators breech barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators tear down barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
