Kolkata bridge collapse kills one man and leaves dozens injured. More people feared trapped under Majerhat bridge, which gave way suddenly.

Pedro_P

Onlookers stand on a segment of the bridge. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images
▼ A bridge has collapsed in the Indian city of Kolkata, leaving one person dead, at least 24 injured and more people feared trapped underneath.
The Majerhat bridge in south Kolkata gave way suddenly around 4.40pm, sending at least 10 vehicles, including a minibus, crashing into the rubble below.
One man died from head injuries in the collapse and another 21 people were taken to hospital, some in critical condition.
Police said on Tuesday night they were still trying to confirm if anyone else was trapped beneath the debris.
Rescuers at the site were using cranes to remove the rubble, including large pieces of concrete, from the site.
“My vehicle was on the bridge when a section of it collapsed,” a witness, Sishir Chakraborty, told the Hindustan Times.
“My driver immediately applied brakes and asked me to get out from the car. When I stepped out the entire structure was shaking. Some construction workers rescued at least five persons.”
Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal state chief minister, said her priority was “relief and rescue”, but questions are already being asked about the maintenance of the 40-year-old bridge.

Rescuers work at the scene. Photograph: Bikas Das/AP
In March 2016, part of a bridge under construction collapsed in the busy Burrabazar area of Kolkata, killing 26 people and injuring 90. Eight engineers were arrested and accused of negligence.
The West Bengal state governor, Keshari Nath Tripathi, said the bridge “deserved better maintenance”. “There was a report on a pit here for quite some time, I don’t know whether the public works department noted it,” he said.
“Public works department and railway administration had the responsibility to maintain [the bridge]. The matter requires investigation.”

National disaster response force and Indian army personnel work at the site. Photograph: Piyal Adhikary/EPA
Like many major Indian cities, Kolkata is growing rapidly as workers from rural areas and smaller cities arrive seeking jobs and education. The unplanned population growth is straining the city’s infrastructure, much of which is ageing and poorly maintained.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, called the collapse “deeply unfortunate”. “My thoughts are with the families of the victims. I pray that those who are injured recover at the earliest.”

► Source

n_ramprasad

RIP to those who passed away and prayers to the injured

tuli08@

God..that is terrible to say the least...those who are injured are the unluckier of the lot...Ca't imagine what they are going to face..:-(

subscraxme

As usual, blame game will start soon and everyone (all political parties, i mean) will point fingers at each other, trying to earn brownie points from this disaster.

Nepotism, shoddy public works, blatant cost cutting, using substandard materials, all these are the banes across the country. God help the victims and those injured

Since the bridge is 5 decades old, at least the TMC should not blame the communists or demonetization or GST for this fiasco!