Builders of collapsed Kolkata flyover face murder, death toll hits 25
Rescue team promises to clean up rubble by Friday; 5 of construction firm also detained.
Kolkata: The Kolkata Police have escalated charges against builders of the collapsed flyover to murder even as hope faded Friday to find any more survivors from the rubble.
The death toll from the collapsed central Kolkata flyover rose to 25 on Friday, after emergency workers toiled through the night to find any remaining survivors trapped under huge slabs of concrete and metal girders.
Read: Flyover collapse: Safety norms violated, says expert
But the Indian Army and emergency authorities said there was little hope of finding any more survivors after pulling almost 100 people from under the rubble of the road that collapsed onto a busy street in Kolkata on Thursday, crushing cars and pedestrians.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: 'Bhaiya mujhe nikalo', cabbie cries for help
"The rescue operation will not stop until all the blocks of concrete and iron girders have been cleared," said deputy police commissioner Akhilesh Chaturvedi as he announced the toll had risen to 25.
Police said 39 of the more than 80 people taken to hospitals were still being treated Friday morning.
"Nearly 300 rescuers, including Army and disaster management personnel, are working around the clock to clear the rubble."
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: It was like a bomb blast, says a victim
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) however said there was little hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble of the flyover, which had been under construction since 2009.
"The rescue operation is in its last phase. There is no possibility of finding any person alive," said S.S. Guleria, deputy inspector general of the India's National Disaster Response Force. He said workers were focused on the recovery of dead bodies and removal of the debris.
It was unclear what caused the sudden collapse, but police have registered a preliminary case against the contractor.
Read: Video captures terrifying moment the Kolkata flyover collapsed
It was not clear how many people might still be missing, possibly trapped under the debris.
Smashed yellow taxis, a crushed truck, destroyed rickshaws and the bloody legs of trapped people jutted from the fallen girders and concrete. Building and other construction collapses are common in India, where regulations are poorly enforced and companies often use substandard materials.
The partially constructed overpass spanned nearly the width of the street and was designed to ease traffic through the densely crowded Burrabazaar neighborhood in the capital of the east Indian state of West Bengal. The steel girders had already been fixed, and on Thursday the concrete was poured into the framework.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: Commotion, despair prevail at hospitals
Within hours, as the concrete was drying, about 100 meters (300 feet) of the overpass fell, while other sections remained standing.
"There used to be a tailor who sat here on this corner. We wonder about him. A cigarettes and tobacco vendor - we knew everyone who used to stay around this crossing," resident Pankaj Jhunjhunwala said. "Until this rubbish is removed, we can't say for sure where they are or how this happened."
The state government, which is fighting for re-election in a vote that starts on Monday, pledged to take action against those found responsible.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse an ‘act of God’, says builder
Survivors being treated at a nearby hospital described how tonnes of metal and concrete came crashing down onto the busy street without warning.
"The flyover collapsed in front of me. When I tried to escape, I was hit," said housewife Sabita Devi.
Hospital manager Sitaram Agarwal said many people were being treated for head and leg injuries sustained in the disaster.
Read: Kolkata flyover collapse: Rescuers sift through rubble at collapse site
But authorities initially struggled to get cranes and other large machinery through the narrow streets of Burrabazar, one of the oldest and most congested parts of the city.
‘Gross neglect’:
An injured builder told AFP at the scene that he had been working on the structure before it collapsed and had seen bolts come out of the metal girders.
"We were cementing two iron girders for the pillars, but the girders couldn't take the weight of the cement," said 30-year-old Milan Sheikh before being taken away to hospital.
"The bolts started coming out this morning and then the flyover came crashing down."
The disaster is the latest in a string of deadly construction accidents in the country, putting a question mark on safety rules and standard of materials used.
Construction of the two-kilometre-long flyover began in 2009 and was supposed to be completed within 18 months, but has suffered a series of hold-ups.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said the government "will not spare" the contractors, Indian construction company IVRCL.
Police said they had registered preliminary cases of murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy against the company, whose offices in Kolkata have been sealed by investigators.
Also read: Kolkata bridge collapse: TMC says design faults; BJP claims criminal negligence
Earlier K P Rao, a representative of IVRCL, appeared to deny any responsibility for the disaster when he told reporters it was an "act of God".
The disaster comes at a sensitive time for Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress party is seeking re-election in the state.
Voting in the West Bengal elections begins on Monday and will be held in five phases lasting a month.
On Thursday, Banerjee blamed the previous state government under which the flyover project was started.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Washington at the time of the collapse, called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to express grief at the tragedy and pledge federal support.
Read: Kolkata bridge collapse is an accident, says builder after ‘act of God’ excuse
He said he was "shocked and saddened," according to a message on his Twitter account. "My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives in Kolkata. May the injured recover at the earliest."
With army troops and personnel from the National Disaster Response Force joining the effort, police said they expected the rescue and cleanup to be completed on Friday.
Workers in yellow hard-hats operated huge cranes, bulldozers and other equipment through the night to clear the rubble and pry apart the concrete slabs. They also used cutting torches to break up metal beams.
The operation was a "very, very challenging task," said O.P. Singh, chief of the disaster response force. Rescuers also used dogs and special cameras to find people who were trapped, he said.
"The area was very, very crowded. Motorised rickshaws, taxis ... there was a lot of traffic," one witness said.
Construction firm officials detained, case registered
Five officials of the company that was building the flyover have been detained.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who paid a visit to the mishap site, told reporters "We have detained a few officials of the construction company. We are taking action against them".
Kolkata Police has 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 the company.
According to another senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, about seven persons, injured in yesterday's mishap, were in a ‘very critical condition’.
Asked when would the area be cleared off all the debris of concrete and iron girdles, the officer said, "the clearing at the main crossing (Ganesh Talkies crossings) will hopefully be over by today. But the rest like iron piers, iron pillars, broken concrete parts will be cleared in a step-by-step process."
The other end of the Vivekananda flyover towards the KK Tagore Street, where the metal pier, holding the bridge, was completely damaged would be cut but "a planned engineering plan is necessary for that", he said.
"It's a very congested area with buildings so close to the flyover. And most of the buildings are very old. So we must keep in mind that in order to remove the damaged portions of the flyover another mishap does not take place," he said.