Kolkata flyover collapse: Police detains 10 officials of Hyd construction firm
Hyderabad: The West Bengal police Friday detained ten officials of the city-based construction company IVRCL, that was building Vivekananda Setu, the Kolkata flyover that collapsed on Thursday killing 24 people.
The detained include few engineers, managers and vice-president of the construction company, a Kolkata police official said.
"We are questioning them to find out what went wrong before the flyover collapsed. Strict action will be taken against them," the officer said, adding that a police team has reached Hyderabad to meet the top bosses of the company.
A four-member police team from West Bengal had arrived in the city as part of its probe to question officials of IVRCL after the accident while two state government engineers were suspended.
The West Bengal state government Friday suspended two engineers of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority who were involved in the construction of the flyover.
"The concerned chief engineer and the concerned executive engineer of KMDA have been placed under suspension pending completion of the probe," a statement from the state secretariat 'Nabanna' said.
It also ordered immediate inspection of the remaining portion of the flyover to ascertain its stability and safety.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: 'Bhaiya mujhe nikalo', cabbie cries for help
Kolkata Police yesterday had registered a case against the Hyderabad-based construction firm IVRCL under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 407 of the IPC and sealed the local office of the company engaged in flyover's construction.
Construction of the two-kilometre-long flyover began in 2009 (Photo: AP)
Meanwhile, the city-based IVRCL, which was constructing the flyover in Kolkata, described the incident as ‘accident’, a day after another official of the company had dubbed it as an ‘act of God’.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: It was like a bomb blast, says a victim
"An act of God was just an expression only to describe that it is under no one's control", P Sita, the construction company's legal team head, told reporters here.
An under-construction flyover in the Burrabazar area of north Kolkata collapsed on Thursday afternoon. The condition of several of the injured was critical and the death toll is likely to go up.
Read: Video captures terrifying moment the Kolkata flyover collapsed
A portion of the ill-fated Vivekananda Setu, which has been under construction since 2009, came crashing down at around 12.35 pm at the crossing of Vivekananda Road and Rabindra Sarani in the densely-populated and congested Burrabazar area.
Several people were trapped under the collapsed portion of the flyover. Many vehicles were crushed or damaged and the passengers travelling in them were killed on the spot.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: Commotion, despair prevail at hospitals
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) however said there was little hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble of the flyover, which had been under construction since 2009.
Workers clearing debris at the accident site where the under-construction flyover collapsed on Vivekananda Road in Kolkata (Photo: PTI)
K Panduranga Rao, Group Head (HR & Admin) of the Hyderabad-based company had told reporters yesterday, "It's nothing but a God's act. So far in 27 years we have constructed several number of bridges...such thing (collapse) never happened."
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse an ‘act of God’, says builder
"We are surprised and extremely shocked. We are there to cooperate with investigation, but investigation takes time", Sita said.
Showing a photograph in the Deccan Chronicle newspaper, she said that it looked like a site of bomb blast. There were various aspects which would be looked into.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: Rescuers sift through rubble at collapse site
Stating that same construction materials were used in building the ongoing flyover, she asked, "Why did this happen? We are anxious to know the reasons".
Regarding the delay, another official of the company said, "78 per cent work of the flyover is over. A number of clearances have not yet come".
