BREAKING: 22 feared dead as bridge collapse in Kolkata (photos, video)
– A bridge has collapsed in the Indian city of Kolkata
– The bridge was said to be under construction as of the time
– About 22 people have been reported killed
– More than 100 people remain unaccounted for
– Death toll is feared to rise as rescue operations are ongoing
Many people are still trapped under the rubbles and efforts are still ongoing to rescue those stuck. Photo: Reuters
An under-construction bridge collapsed Thursday in the Indian city of Kolkata, crushing vehicles below it, killing 22 people and leaving dozens more missing.
Authorities have said that more than 100 people were unaccounted for after the incident, which occurred in a busy commercial area north of the city’s center.
However, authorities stressed that just because people have been reported missing doesn’t mean they’re trapped — it just means their whereabouts and conditions weren’t immediately known.
READ ALSO: Groom’s father shot dead during wedding gunfire celebrations (photos, video)
In reaction to the ugly incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is “Shocked and saddened by collapse of under construction flyover in Kolkata,”. He tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in Kolkata. May the injured recover at the earliest.”
My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in Kolkata. May the injured recover at the earliest.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 31, 2016
CNN reports that India’s army has deployed four columns of rescue personnel, this is according to a tweet from a representative of the Indian Ministry of Defense. Three medical teams with two ambulances, doctors and nursing assistants are also there. And the National Disaster Response Force has five teams at the site, with two more on the way.
A Video footage aired on TV channels showed a street scene with two auto rickshaws and a crowd of people suddenly obliterated by a mass of falling concrete that narrowly missed cars crawling in the traffic jam.
video from another angle by Dhiman Hazra, Bridge collapsed in Kolkata, India, dozen dead, over 150 trapped pic.twitter.com/wS28W6J27R — Khalid Khan™ (@khalidkhan787) March 31, 2016
“The condition is pathetic. At this moment no one has any clue how many people are trapped,” said Raichand Mohta, a police officer at the scene.
Eyewitness Ravindra Kumar Gupta, a grocer, said two buses carrying more than 100 passengers were trapped. Eight taxis and six auto rickshaws were partly visible in the wreckage.
“Every night, hundreds of labourers would build the flyover and they would cook and sleep near the site by day,” said Gupta who, together with friends, pulled out six bodies.
“The government wanted to complete the flyover before the elections and the labourers were working on a tight deadline. Maybe the hasty construction led to the collapse.”
READ ALSO: Sad: Terrorists crucify priest like Jesus in cruel Easter Day murder (pictured)
Al Jazeera reports that the collapse happened in a very busy area. Many people are raising questions as to how the incident could have happened. The flyover is said to have been under construction for five years and has missed several deadlines for completion,”
Certain experts are of the opinion that one of the reasons of the collapse could be lack of quality and safety control.
According to The India Express, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the flyover collapse site after cancelling a political rally for the upcoming state Assembly polls.
“We will take stringent action, it’s a serious matter… negligence is a crime. Opinions of engineering experts will be taken in the matter,” WB CM Mamata Banerjee said, adding that her government will take care of all the expenses of all the injured.
Mamata noted that over 50 people have been injured.
According to KP Rao of IVRCL Infrastructure — the company involved in the construction, “Forty-five per cent of the work was left, one girder missed and the second one fell. It is nothing but God’s act.”
Rao said: “This has never happened before, we are also in shock.”
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for next of kin of the deceased, and Rs 2 lakh for the injured.
Rescuers have managed to pull out about 71 injured persons from the rubble, said Maj-Gen Anurag Gupta of India’s National Disaster Management Authority. However, it’s not clear if those were among the 100-plus people unaccounted for mentioned by Benerjee.
Indian company IVRCL was building the 2km Vivekananda Road flyover, according to its website, and its director of operations AGK Murthy said the company was unsure of the cause of the disaster.
“We did not use any inferior quality material and we will cooperate with the investigators,” Murthy told reporters in Hyderabad where the firm is based.
READ ALSO: Elephant throws a man in the air and kills him instantly. Shocking photos!
Building collapses are common in India, where builders use poor enforcement of regulations and often use substandard materials.
It would be recalled that deadly accidents like these have happened before.
Nine people died when a three-story residential building in the Thane district of Maharashtra state collapsed last July.
Five years earlier, several people were critically injured when a pedestrian bridge under construction in New Delhi fell while workers were laying a concrete slab, said Rakesh Mishra, chief engineer of New Delhi’s Public Works Department.
The post BREAKING: 22 feared dead as bridge collapse in Kolkata (photos, video) appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.