Two killed, several injured as building collapses in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area

Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim apprehended that some more people might still be trapped under the debris.

Two persons died and seven others were injured after a five-storey under-construction building collapsed in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area late on March 17 night.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the spot and took stock of rescue operations. She also met the injured at a health facility.

The rescue operation is going on at the site located at Azan Molla Lane in the city’s western periphery. The under construction building collapsed on the shanties next to it.

Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim said that promoters of the building will be arrested.

“Sad to learn about the house collapse disaster of an under-construction building in the Garden Reach area of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Our Mayor, Fire Minister, Secretaries and Commissioner of Police, civic, police, fire and disaster management officers and teams (including NDRF, KMC and KP teams) have been on site throughout the night for mitigating the disaster,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote on X.

She said the government will provide compensation to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured persons.

“We stand by the distressed families and rescue operations shall continue,” Ms. Banerjee said on the microblogging site.