‘Monumental tragedy’: India flyover collapse kills at least 21 with 150 feared trapped
Efforts are underway to rescue those trapped under the debris in Kolkata
A flyover under construction in the bustling Indian city of Kolkata collapsed on to moving traffic below, killing at least 21 people with as many as 150 people feared trapped, police said.
Residents were using their bare hands to try to rescue people pinned under a 100-metre length of metal and cement that snapped off at one end and came crashing down in a teeming commercial district near Girish Park.
“Monumental tragedy. Rescue ops on. Many feared dead,” Derek O’Brien, spokesman for the left-wing party that governs the state of West Bengal of which Kolkata is the capital, said in a tweet.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking re-election in a regional poll next month, rushed to the scene to survey the damage. She faces tough questions over who was responsible.
A newspaper reported last November that Banerjee wanted the project - already years late - to be completed by February. Project engineers expressed concerns over whether this would be possible, The Telegraph said at the time.