Kolkata, India (BBN)-At least three people were killed in Kolkata on Thursday and hundreds were feared trapped when an under-construction flyover collapsed onto traffic moving along the street below, police said.
Firefighters and residents were trying to rescue those trapped under the wreckage of the metal-and-cement structure that came down near Girish Park in a teeming commercial district, eports the Hindustan Times.
2:35pm: Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to DG NDRF who apprised him of the situation at the accident site in Kolkata. NDRF teams have been rushed to the spot for rescue ops.
2:25pm: More than one bus with passengers is still trapped under the debris, said Kolkata Police personnel manning the Lalbazar control room in Kolkata.
2:20pm: “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.
2.10pm: 2 units of NDRF were rushed to the accident site to assist in rescue work, says ANI.
2pm: According to Trinamool Congress sources chief minister Mamata Banerjee is rushing back to Kolkata from West Midnappore where she was on an election campaign trip.
Paramilitary forces in the city on election rushed to the spot to lend a helping hand to the rescue efforts
People were seen pushing water bottles responding to cries of help coming from persons trapped under the debris .
1.50pm:Two people declared dead. Local residents in north Kolkata’s Girish Park say hundreds of people and some vehicles are trapped under the debris of the flyover.
The principal of Calcutta Medical College T K Lahiri told HT that two persons were “brought dead” while two were undergoing treatment at the hospital.
News agency ANI reported 10 people were dead.
“Five persons were rushed to the hospital,” DC traffic V Solomon Neshakumar said. The collapse occurred in a congested area on Vivekananda Road in north Kolkata.
The flyover was set to be one of Kolkata’s longest, connecting Girish Park in north Kolkata to Howrah.
Rescue workers were seen trying to extract those trapped by cutting through stone slabs using heavy drilling machines. Personnel from disaster management authority rushed to the spot.
The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority was building the flyover.
BBN/SK/AD