New Delhi, July 12 - E. Sreedharan, known world wide as India's 'Metro man', resigned as the chief of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Sunday, taking 'moral responsibility' for the collapse of an underconstruction span that killed five people in the capital.

Sreedharan, who has been the managing director of the DMRC since its inception, announced his resignation at a press conference here and expressed 'lot of pain and remorse' over the pre-dawn accident in south Delhi. Incidentally, Sreedharan celebrated his birthday June 12, when he turned 77.

The DMRC chief announced a four-member committee to probe into what caused the accident, claiming five lives, and said the committee has been tasked with giving its report within 10 days.

'I have been in charge of the Metro since beginning. I take full responsibility for the accident, and having taken the full moral responsibility I resign as the managing director of the Delhi Metro,' Sreedharan told reporters.

'I may not be directly connected with the accident. But I am the head of the organisation and have to take the moral responsibility,' Sreedharan said.

The 77-year-old, who has come to be known as 'Metro Man' for delivering to the capital a world-class Metro rail system, sent his resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Governor Tejendra Khanna following the accident around 5.00 a.m. Sunday.

In one of the worst accidents involving Delhi Metro, a span under construction in a congested area of south Delhi collapsed Sunday morning, killing five people, including an engineer, and injuring 15 others.

The span that collapsed was part of an elevated section of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) new route on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur section.