Kolkata, India – Drivers from Kolkata witnessed a horrific incident on their way to work on Thursday morning when a road overpass still under construction collapsed near Burrabazar. The incident took place at a heavily transited road intersection, leaving pedestrians and drivers under an enormous pile of rubble. The death toll is at least of 21 people after the unfinished road overpass crashed down, leaving 60 others gravely injured, said police officials.
The first ones in the scene at the Tagore Street road intersection near Burrabazar hurried up to help the people trapped under the debris from the overpass with their own hands. Yet most of the victims were trapped under several pieces of debris, making people unable to help them get out.
Several rescue teams arrived later with the proper equipment to help victims of the overpass collapse get out safely from the wreckage. Recent reports from the incident in the Kolkata neighborhood stated that people being rescued from the debris are being sent to the hospitals nearby Burrabazar in India.
Rescuers have been exhaustively trying to help the ones trapped in their cars under the rubble, as they’re using saws and small cranes since morning to set the drivers free. Witnesses from the event claim it was straight out of a horror film, as they could only see smashed cars and concrete debris all over the place, with desperate screams from the survivors in the background.
They also claimed to see people agonizing in a pool of their own blood as well as people screaming for help while trying to get out under the cars. As Indian media reporters started covering the news, the site still looked as if the overpass had fallen only minutes ago as cranes continue to look for the rest of the victims.
Even though rescuers are doing everything they can to help the people trapped under the overpass debris, figuring out who’s responsible for the structure’s collapse has taken a heated debate. The Trinamool Congress blames the previous Left Front government for this incident resulting in 21 deaths as of now.
The blame game
The Congress bases its accusation on the fact that the Left Front government started the road overpass construction near Burrabazar when it was in power. Nevertheless, the Left parties have posted many responses to these accusations denying any sort of blame on the collapsing of the overpass. The Left parties claim that the contract for the overpass construction was handed to a company called IVRCL Construction based at Hyderabad.
According to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, everything that can be done to help the victims of the flyover’s collapse is being done, as he instructed to focus the help in rescue and relief operations. As a result, major improvements were seen at the site of the incident as ambulances started to arrive rapidly.
Also, the Army designated a team of engineers to further dig up the place and find the missing victims. As people and rescue equipment were not enough for some victims to be saved due to the massive effort necessary, the Army sent cranes, gas cutters and proper equipment to help the authorities on the site to clear the road intersection from the rubble.
Source: NY Times