Kolkata warehouse collapse kills five; 15 feared trapped under debris

Five people died, and around 20 others were rescued after a three-storey warehouse that was under construction collapsed in Kolkata’s Taratala area on Wednesday. Following the incident, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had ordered that all construction projects approved under the TMC regime within the city's civic body area be halted until July 31.

About 15 more workers still remained trapped under the massive debris of concrete and steel at the accident as of Wednesday evening – more than nine hours after the disaster struck – officials said, sparking apprehensions of a further rise in death toll, even as rescue efforts were underway in full swing. All rescued individuals were admitted to the Trauma Care Centre at the state-run SSKM Hospital, where three remain in critical condition, hospital authorities said.

Officials said the collapsed warehouse is a private leasehold property under the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.

Three people, a construction site supervisor and two labour suppliers, were arrested.

Police said more people, including the lease holder, construction company owners and plan sanctioning officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), were under the scanner.

The CM, who visited the site, said that “faulty” construction plans of the warehouse received sanction from the KMC on January 17 this year, during TMC regime.

“What I saw convinced me that the collapse did not take place on account of the rains or possible soft soil on which the construction was taking place. It was because of a faulty structural design in which the iron beams weren’t able to take the load of concrete and crumbled to the ground,” Adhikari said.

“I have directed the KMC commissioner and the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department to stop work at all under-construction projects approved by the previous government, especially commercial buildings, including projects where permission was granted after filling up water bodies. They will undergo an audit. Construction work at such sites will remain suspended till July 31,” he said.

Work can resume at the sites from August 1, subject to their passing the scrutiny, Adhikari said.

The audit would subsequently be extended to the Howrah and Bidhannagar municipal areas, he said.

The CM said the audit would be conducted by a multi-agency team comprising officials from the Public Works Department, Civil Defence, Fire Services, Kolkata Police and the KMC.

Adhikari said he would declare penal measures against the Taratala builder company and compensation to the victims on Thursday in the assembly, which is currently in session.

The CM also took to social media to express his condolences to the bereaved families and visited the hospital to meet the injured.

Coordinated rescue efforts were being made by state and central agencies, including the Army at the warehouse.

The roof of the warehouse located on the Transport Depot Road near Brace Bridge in the Taratala area caved in at around noon. Several people were working at the site at the time of the incident, a Kolkata Police officer said.

Civil engineers said that there was prima facie evidence of design and construction flaws that may have led to the collapse.