(from top) A car crushed under the launcher (circled); a crane carries a bus damaged by the collapse. Pictures by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, Oct. 19: A Metro bridge under construction collapsed in east Delhi today, killing two men, injuring 17 and leaving the first significant taint on a mass transport project largely perceived as safe.

The bridge and the launcher cradling it collapsed on Vikas Marg, a key highway linking central Delhi to the capital’s east, at 7.05am, crushing a bus, a crane and two cars, police said.

A launcher is made up of a thick metallic mesh that supports incomplete parts of a bridge. One end of the mesh is connected to a crane-like vehicle, from where it can be moved vertically and horizontally or rotated to align the cradled concrete slab with the rest of the bridge.

Surinder Kumar, 28, the driver of the bus, and Chotte Lal, 35, a labourer with Afcons, the private company building the bridge for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, are dead. The 17 injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals. Of them, two are critical and have had their legs amputated, police officers said.

As of now, a faulty launcher appears the cause of the accident, Metro officials said. They conceded that a thorough investigation, followed by action against those responsible, would be needed to restore public confidence in a transport project that has come to symbolise the capital’s ambition to become a “world-class city”.

The investigation will be conducted by a three-member committee — a structural engineer from IIT Delhi, the Metro chief engineer and a foreign consultant — Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. IIT Delhi director Surendra Prasad has been requested to nominate the structural engineer.

Metro has seized Afcons’s records relating to the project and sealed its site inspection office.

“These records will be scrutinised to find out if there was any lapse,” Dayal said. He announced that Metro would pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of each of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

Work on the bridge began a year ago, Metro officials said. The bridge stood on a rail route being built to link Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi to Nirman Bhavan in the centre of the city.

In the past few years, Delhi has attempted a slew of major transport projects to ease traffic jams — the city has more cars than all the other Indian metros put together.

Dozens of flyovers, some with layers and shapes almost out of science fiction, have been built across the capital. But the phases of construction saw more traffic snarls, with no designated team to help people find their way around blocked roads.

Over the past two years, a plan to start a bus rapid transport system has met with resistance from some people after a series of accidents along unmanned bus lanes under construction.

In contrast, Metro workers wearing dark hats are specifically stationed near each construction site to wave bright flags and glowing rods to direct drivers along alternative routes. Till today, no major accident had been reported at any Metro site.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit said: “It’s an unusual accident and everything will come out after the inquiry. Delhi Metro has a very good record but we will find out who is responsible.”