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Indian Overpass Collapses: 15 Dead, Toll Expected To Rise

By Ethan Dunwill
Published on: 02:46 PST, Mar 31, 2016

An overpass under construction in the Indian city of Kolkata collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 15 and leaving dozens injured or unaccounted for. Just how many are trapped under the rubble is not yet known. Overpass collapses are not new to India, but this one is especially severe.

Digging Out

Firefighters and soldiers on the scene, along with local residents, have been digging through debris with their hands in an attempt to rescue those trapped. A 140-ton crane, brought in to remove the heavy steel boulders and slab of concrete, was unable to lift the structure. Those alive and in view are being provided bottles of water by local residents.

The structure fell on both vehicles and pedestrians during a normally very busy time of day in the West Bengali capital.

Under Construction Since 2009

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is a heavily populated area, with 4.5 million residents in the city itself and another 10.5 million in surrounding suburbs. It is an area of heavy traffic and congestion, and the overpass, which has been under construction since 2009, is expected to relieve some of this.

There have been several delays in construction, however. An eyewitness told reporters,

“The government wanted to complete the flyover before the elections and the laborers were working on a tight deadline. Maybe the hasty construction led to the collapse.”

The same eyewitness, grocer Ravindra Kumar Gupta, stated that there were two buses, at least eight taxis, and as many as six auto rickshaws partially visible in the rubble. He and friends carried out six bodies.

The section that collapsed was put into place just Wednesday night, according to another local resident, Ramesh Kejriwal.

Officials Respond

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Shocked and saddened by the collapse of under construction flyover in Kolkata. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in Kolkata. May the injured recover at the earliest.”

Sergeant Saurave Benerjee, of the local police, and other authorities have stressed that although well over 100 are reported missing, they may not be trapped. They are unaccounted for at this point. There is no way to determine an exact number of trapped, he went on to say.

Senior police officer Akhilesh Chaturvedi stated, “The problem is that nobody is able to drive an ambulance to the spot.”

The injured are being carried out to the waiting areas surrounding the immediate site.

Dozens of injured have already been transported to hospitals, and their identities are not yet all known.

Latest of a String of Collapses

The overpass collapse on Thursday is the most recent of several that have occurred in recent years.

In February 2015, three people were injured when a bridge pillar collapsed in north Delhi, falling on their vehicle.

In March 2013, a large section of an overpass on Kolkata’s eastern side collapsed, leaving three injured. More would have been injured if the collapse had not occurred at 4:30 a.m. when there was little traffic.

In July 2009, six people died and 13 others suffered injuries when a bridge under construction in Delhi collapsed. Just eight months earlier, another collapse had also occurred.

In September 2007, another collapse of an under-construction overpass occurred in Hyderabad, killing 15 people.

Many blame shoddy construction materials for these incidents.

It is likely that a technical committee will be appointed by the government to investigate this latest incident, as has been done in the past. In those incidents, the construction companies, their engineers, and their procurement officers have all been held responsible.

Meanwhile, family members mourn or await news of their loved ones.

[Photo by Bikas Das/AP]

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