Kolkata: At least 21 people were killed, over 80 others injured and many trapped as portion of an under-construction two km flyover collapsed on a congested road intersection here, crushing people, vehicles and hawkers.
Police and pedestrians initially used their hands to try to move fallen girders and steel rods to reach people. Soldiers then rushed to the site, television footage showed, as locals armed with bamboo sticks raced to lift rubble and crowds gathered in the hope of hearing news of loved ones feared trapped.
“Everything is finished,” screamed Parbati Mondal, whose fruit-seller husband was missing in the collapse. Specialist rescue teams armed with concrete cutters, drilling machines, sensors to detect life and sniffer dogs were also on their way.
Kolkata is the venue of this Sunday’s World T20 cricket final which is set to draw thousands of fans to the city. Construction on the flyover had been delayed for several years in the congested city, according to local media reports.
Television footage showed one bloodied body trapped under a concrete slab, and also the hand of a person sticking out from under twisted debris. An eyewitness at the scene described a loud bang “like a bomb blast and suddenly there was a lot of smoke and dust”.
“I looked at the other side of the road and people were screaming: “The bridge is collapsing,” the unnamed man told television networks. A crane was seen lifting a mangled car from under the debris and part of a crushed bus was visible protruding from the rubble, although it was unclear if it had been carrying passengers.
Firemen were also on the scene, fighting a blaze that ignited from spilt petrol. “Monumental tragedy. Rescue ops on. Many feared dead,” tweeted Derek O'Brien, spokesman for the ruling Trinamul Congress in West Bengal. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was monitoring the situation.
Motionless bodies, body parts smeared in blood, scattered iron girdles and concrete slabs of collapsed part of an under-construction flyover were at the site teeming with hundreds of rescue workers. Scattered shoes, slippers, water bottles, broken glass panes, hand bags were seen all over the busy Vivekananda Road and Tagore Street crossing spo as the security personnel and rescuers were sifting through the rubble in search of survivors.
