Kolkata: A section of a bridge in a busy area of posh south Kolkata came crashing down this afternoon, triggering shock across the city. Many people are feared trapped underneath, some still in their vehicles. One person was killed, 24 were injured and they have been shifted to the hospital. The army, which has its base in the nearby Fort William, has sent its personnel for rescue work.
The 40-year-old bridge, built by the Port Trust, stood over some rail tracks in Alipore -- one of the very old areas of the city. The area is surrounded by half-constructed buildings, scaffolding and pillars.
Eyewitnesses said around 4.45 pm, a huge segment of the bridge came crashing down. Pictures from the area showed the collapsed section resting on the road, at least nine vehicles, including a mini bus, and several two-wheelers still on it.
Here are the highlights from the bridge collapse in south Kolkata:
Sep 05, 2018 03:15 (IST)
The Eastern Railway on Wednesday confirmed it was not conducting any maintenance work at the accident site.
Sep 05, 2018 00:11 (IST)
The West Bengal government will pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the dead, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, reported IANS. The government will also pay Rs 50,000 to each of the injured.
Sep 04, 2018 23:26 (IST)
The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, which is executing construction of the Joka-BBD Bag metro corridor in the vicinity of the Majerhat bridge that collapsed on Tuesday, denied any relationship of metro construction with the incident, according to news agency PTI.
RVNL Chief Project Manager/Line AK Roy said the collapse of Majerhat road overbridge (ROB) girder over canal portion was a "mid-span failure of RCC girder which are very old and of longer length of approximately 40 metres".
"There is no relationship of Metro project construction with this mid-span failure of RCC girder of the ROB. In fact, the condition of piers on both ends are clear indication of this," he said in a statement, according to a PTI report.
Mr Roy said the approach piers of ROB on both ends of the affected span were intact in position.
"Metro foundation work at 4.5 m away from this ROB's piers has been completed long back (more than one year) and presently preparatory work away from the ROB was in progress for deck casting," he said.
The RVNL is the executing agency for construction of the Joka-BBD Bag metro corridor, which passes through the vicinity of the Majerhat bridge.
Sep 04, 2018 22:04 (IST)
Opposition parties in West Bengal Tuesday alleged that the Trinamool Congress-led government's "callousness towards the repair of old bridges" was the main reason behind the collapse of a portion of the Majerhat bridge, according to news agency PTI.
Governor KN Tripathi, who visited the site, described it as "a big disaster".
"I have come to see the rescue work. It is a big disaster. I heard that maintenance of the bridge is entrusted with the PWD and the railways. The matter required to be enquired," he told reporters.
Sep 04, 2018 21:08 (IST)
As of now, according to reports, around 24 are said to have been injured in the Majerhat bridge collapse
Sep 04, 2018 19:43 (IST)
1 dead, 19 injured in Majerhat bridge collapse in south Kolkata