10 Killed in Kolkata Mishap: 'Illegal Building' Fell on Slum, 3 May Still be Under Rubble; Construction Promoter Held for Murder

At least 10 people are dead and several were left injured after a partv of the five-story under-construction building collapsed in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area on Sunday night. A search operation is currently underway to recue more survivors who are suspected to be still trapped under the ruins.

As per the statement of local residents, two more victims are currently trapped in the collapsed structure. The NDRF will continue with its rescue operation on Tuesday to search them with the help of Dogs and search Equipment.

The 10 victims who lost their lives due to collapse of the under-construction building on the adjacent slum in Hazari Mollah Bagan in the Garden Reach area were recovered by the NDRF on Monday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is currently recuperating from a head injury, visited the building collapse site in Garden Reach area on Monday and met the injured at SSKM hospital in Bhowanipore. The Chief Minister also assured locals of stern action against illegal construction.

“I offer my condolences to the affected families. I was told by the mayor that the building was built illegally. The administration will take appropriate action against those who are responsible. The government stands by the affected families,” Banerjee said at Garden Reach.

Notably, the said area where the accident occurred is in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) civic ward No 134 which is part of the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency held by the city mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim since 2011.

Following the accident, Mayor Firhad Hakim announced a compensation of Rs 5 Lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. “I have spoken to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and we will give Rs five lakh to the next of kin of each deceased person and Rs one lakh to each injured person,” Hakim was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

In addition to this, Municipality officials said they served show-cause notices to three engineers from the building department for dereliction of duty.