Kolkata: Death Toll Rises To 15 In Warehouse Collapse
All of them were declared dead at SSKM Hospital upon arrival. At present, 18 injured workers have been undergoing treatment at the state-run facility. The condition of five among them is critical.
Kolkata: The death toll has jumped to 15 from 11 in the under-construction warehouse collapse at Taratala in south western parts of the city as the rescue personnel have been continuing their search for more labourers trapped under the debris even 48 hours after the incident. On Friday, four bodies were recovered from the site.
All of them were declared dead at SSKM Hospital upon arrival. At present, 18 injured workers have been undergoing treatment at the state-run facility. The condition of five among them is critical. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said that he wanted to know from the rescue teams when their operations would be completed.
Meanwhile, a sixth accused, Kalicharan Banerjee, whose name did not feature in the FIR but was mentioned by the CM, was arrested by the police on Thursday night. He worked as an officer on special duty (OSD) to former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim of Trinamul Congress. Mr Banerjee was produced by the police at the Alipore Court.
During the hearing, public prosecutor Sourin Ghoshal submitted to the judge that the arrested OSD was an influential figure in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and played an instrumental role in the approval of the faulty building plan of the upcoming warehouse of Shambhunath Behera at P/2 Transport Depot Road.
Mr Banerjee's counsel however argued that his client had no role in the case and opposed the police remand prayer. Rejecting his plea, the judge later remanded the accused in police custody till July 4. The tragic incident pained former TMC councillor of KMC ward no 48 Bishwarup Dey so much over various allegations that he quit his party. He announced his decision in a video message.
“I was very much disturbed for the last two days since the incident happened at Taratala. All are pointing fingers at TMC and KMC in everything, starting from corruption to rule violation, that led to the incident. I made a big mistake by joining TMC. I must atone. So I have left the party,” Mr Dey was seen saying in the video.
