Cuttack, Aug. 28: Eleven people were injured when a portion of under-construction Jatamundia-Sonepur bridge over the Mahanadi collapsed on Wednesday night.

The state government today suspended two engineers and ordered a probe to ascertain the cause behind the incident. Three labourers sustained serious injuries and were shifted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Earlier in June and August last year, a portion of the bridge had caved in.

“A group of 13 labourers were working on the bridge when the incident occurred. Three have been shifted to the SCB Medical College and others were treated with first aid,” said the district collector, Nirmal Mishra.

Hearing the noise, villagers rushed to the spot in country boats and rescued the labourers who were trapped under the debris.

“After hearing the noise, youths from our village hurried to the spot and saved those trapped under the debris,” said Ashok Das, 30, a resident.

“Since the bridge has already collapsed thrice in the last two years, it is suspected that the construction has been very shoddy. A proper inquiry will help establish the reason. The safety of commuters will be at stake if the bridge is constructed in this way,” said another resident Pavitra Nayak.

Rajalaxmi Constructions was awarded the job for the construction of the 2,077-metre long bridge in 2008. It was supposed to complete it in 2011. The estimated cost for the construction was Rs 54 crore. However, according to sources, now, the cost of the project has gone up to Rs 62 crore.

Nalinikant Pradhan, secretary of public works department, said: “A four-member team led by engineer-in-chief (civil) will conduct a detailed assessment of the bridge. Action will be taken if anyone is found guilty.”

Pradhan said that the team had been asked to conduct a detailed probe as earlier, too, the bridge collapsed. Official sources said that it would focus on technical aspects and look into the quality of construction work as well as other safety parameters.