Kolkata Flyover Collapse: Death toll rises to 24; officials detained

The death toll in the flyover collapse here has climbed to 24 after three more bodies were recovered from underneath the piles of debris of concrete and iron girdles of the broken portion of the under-construction bridge.

Armymen along with Kolkata Police disaster management team, NDRF, fire fighters pulled out three more bodies from underneath the rubble of concrete in the overnight rescue operations, a police officer said today.

The number of people injured in the mishap, he said, was closed to 90.

“Nobody alive has been recovered... Two rambled 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.

About 60-metre-long portion of the under-construction Vivekananda flyover collapsed yesterday afternoon.

The West Bengal government has ordered a high-level probe into the incident that triggered a blame game with the opposition accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of callousness.

Kolkata Police registered a case against the Hyderabad-based construction firm IVRCL under sections 304, 308 and 407 of the IPC and sealed the local office of company engaged in the flyover’s construction.