There were 40 construction workers on the bridge, being built to bring railway connectivity to Aizawl, at the time of the incident, Hindustan Times reported.
“Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the debris so far...many others are still missing,” a police officer said.
The bridge that collapsed was part of an Indian Railways project to connect all state capitals in the northeast region. It has been under construction for some years now.
"We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the accident and how many people actually were on it when it occurred,” Sabyasachi De, chief public relations officer of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), said.
AMK/PR