An under-construction flyover collapsed in a congested Kolkata neighbourhood on Thursday, killing at least 18 people and trapping hundreds underneath giant steel frames and concrete slabs.
Around 250 metres of the 2.2 kilometre-long Vivekananda Road flyover crashed onto dense traffic around 12.30 am near one of Kolkata’s most important business districts, Burrabazar.
Authorities rushed 500 armymen and National Disaster Response Force personnel to help local police rescue passengers from buses and taxis under the debris.
Close circuit camera footage showed people, cars, autorickshaws and hawkers getting crushed as the massive concrete structure crashed on the busy street underneath.
A bloody hand from under a girder gestured for help as people handed over water bottles to survivors pinned underneath.
Experts warned that the toll will mount and clearing debris may take several days as cranes to lift heavy concrete slabs hadn’t arrived hours after the accident. Rescuers pulled out 78 people by 5pm.
“It is nothing but an act of God. We are yet to fathom how it happened. Such a disaster never happened in 27 years,” said an official of IVRCL, the company building the flyover.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot and sought to shift the blame for the disaster to the erstwhile Left Front that was in power when construction began in 2009.
“Construction began on flyover during CPI(M) time, not our time. We have cancelled all our election meetings, and have come here. The guilty will be given strict punishment,” she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was shocked and saddened by the tragedy. He said he took stock of the rescue operations.
The state government announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the families of the dead, Rs.2 lakh for those critically injured and Rs.1 lakh for those who suffered minor injuries.
But opposition parties weren’t convinced and blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for the incident that is expected to influence the assembly polls less than a week away.
“The construction work was carried on in an unscientific manner. The state administration did not take any lesson even after the collapse of Ultadanga flyover three years ago,” said Union minister of state for urban development and BJP MP Babul Supriyo.
The Congress demanded the arrest of state urban development minister Firhad Hakim and accused the police of being lax in starting rescue operations.
