SRINAGAR, Aug 11: At least 15 people have been injured after a foot bridge spanning an outlet of Dal lake in Srinagar collapsed, witnesses say.

Scores of people were reportedly protesting at Saida Kadak area against government when the wooden bridge, known as Janta Kadal, gave way beneath them.

At least fifty people, including Inam-ul-Haq, assistant commissioner of the revenue department and policemen who had reportedly reached the spot to pacify the protesters, fell into the river.

Police here said a group of people had blocked the road at Ashai Bagh area on the city outskirts, demanding improvement of the roads in their locality adjacent to the main road.

When a group of local people accompanied by the magistrate and the station house officer (SHO) of the police station concerned were crossing a wooden footbridge between Bhat Mohalla and Ashraf Mohalla, the bridge collapsed sending 13 civilians, the official and four policemen into the stream, a police officer said.

“Immediately, River Police and Police swung into action and rescued all of them. All the persons have been safely rescued. While two of the rescued people have been referred to Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura (SKIMS) for specialised treatment, the rest, according to attending doctors, have been treated for minor injuries,” he said.