Kolkata flyover collapse: 3 more bodies found, death toll touches 24

Kolkata: Three more bodies were recovered from under the debris of the flyover that collapsed on Thursday, taking the death toll to 24 even as five officials of IRVCL, the firm that was building the structure, were detained yesterday. Around 90 people were injured in the collapse and the condition of seven of them is stated to be ‘very critical'.

Relatives of a man killed in the collapse mourn their loss. Pics/PTI

Armymen, Kolkata Police, disaster management team, NDRF and fire brigade personnel engaged in rescue work throughout the night, pulled out three more bodies from underneath the rubble of concrete, a police officer said yesterday.

A rescue worker scans the debris for bodies

"Nobody alive has been recovered... Two mangled autorickshaws apart from a few other vehicles have been pulled out. One lorry is still stuck inside... Whether there is anybody trapped inside cannot be said," he said.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar confirmed that five IRVL officials had been detained for questioning. "We have detained a few officials of the construction company. We are taking action against them," he said.

Safety norms violated
Gross violations of safety norms led to casualties in the flyover collapse case, an expert on traffic and transport safety, working with the National Highway Authority of India, said yesterday. "There can be technical issues during construction and so the industry practise is to demarcate any construction zone. When such a large overhead structure was being constructed how could people and traffic be allowed underneath," said IIT Kharagpur Professor Bhargab Maitra, whose team works with the National Highway Authority of India for conducting road safety audits.