In Kolkata, a five-story under-construction building collapses, leaving two dead and fourteen survivors

On Sunday night, a five-story under-construction building in Kolkata collapsed, killing at least two people and trapping a large number of others under the debris. Around midnight, a portion of the five-story structure crashed into the nearby Hazari Mollah Bagan slum in the Garden Reach neighborhood. Up to 14 individuals have been recovered so far, and efforts are being made to locate any further survivors who could be hidden behind the debris.

Late Sunday night, a structure that was still under construction fell in the Garden Reach neighborhood. A few people have been saved by us. According to NDTV, a police officer said, “The rescue operation is still going on.” At the location, NDRF members are stationed. Ambulances were positioned nearby to transport the patients to the hospital, according to footage from the site.

According to NDRF sources, roughly 20 individuals have been saved thus far with the assistance of the villagers and police.

Before the structure collapsed, massive slabs of concrete fell on surrounding shanties, according to an NDTV story that quoted villagers who were among the first rescuers on the site.

At around 1:40 in the morning, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal visited the scene and assessed the success of the rescue effort.

Suvendu Adhikari, the president of the West Bengal BJP and head of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, posted images from the scene of the fall and criticized the TMC administration, which is in power, for the tragedy.

“An illegally built five-story building at Hazari Mollah Bagan, Garden Reach, Metiabruz, KMC Ward No. 134, has collapsed.” Adhikari commented on X that “this specific area falls under the so-called ‘citadel’ of the Hon’ble Mayor of Kolkata and Municipal Affairs Minister.”

The aforementioned region is located in municipal ward No. 134 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is a component of the Kolkata Port Assembly seat, which has been represented since 2011 by city mayor and minister of urban development Firhad Hakim.

Mayor Firhad Hakim said that the wounded would get Rs 1 lakh as compensation, while the families of the dead would receive Rs 5 lakh.

In response to the event, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised the distraught families her assistance.

“It is with sadness that I have learned of the home collapse accident involving an under-construction structure in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s Garden Reach region. To lessen the impact of the calamity, our mayor, fire minister, secretaries, commissioner of police, civic, police, and disaster management officials and teams (including NDRF, KMC, and KP teams) have been on the scene all night. We will pay damages to the affected parties as well as the deceased’s next of kin. The TMC leader said in an X post, “We stand by the distressed families and rescue operations shall continue.”