Kolkata warehouse collapse kills 4, injures 17; several feared trapped under debris

Rescue operations underway after a three-storey warehouse collapsed on Wednesday. PIC/PTI

At least four people were killed and 17 others injured after a three-storey under-construction warehouse in the Taratala area of west Kolkata collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, trapping several people underneath the rubble.

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

Massive chunks of iron beams and concrete crumbled during the construction, where several workers were engaged. Eyewitnesses at the site said they heard trapped victims crying for help from beneath the debris.

The collapsed warehouse is a lease-hold property under the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in the city, an official said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited the disaster site where rescue operations were underway, added that about 18 more people remained trapped under the rubble where coordinated rescue efforts were being made by state and central agencies.

Army has also been roped in, while cranes and heavy equipment lifting machinery were deployed at the site to remove the collapsed iron beams. So far, 21 people have been rescued.

All the rescued people, believed to be workers at the construction site, were admitted to the Trauma Care Centre of the state-run SSKM hospital, the condition of three among them was stated to be critical, hospital authorities said.

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