A five-storey structure collapsed in Kolkata’s Garden Reach district late on March 17.
“The death toll from the collapse of the Metiabruz building in southern Kolkata has reached four,” Kolkata police said.
Earlier in the day, West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose said another 13 people had been rescued from the crash site.
“Up to thirteen other people have just been rescued. Rs 5 lakh will be paid as reimbursement to the relatives of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh will be paid to the injured,” Bose said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the scene of the incident and met with the injured at a hospital in southern Kolkata.
Expressing grief over the incident, Banerjee wrote on social media platform X: “It is sad to hear the crisis of the collapse of an under-structured structure in the Garden Reach domain of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Our Mayor, Fire Minister, Secretaries and Commissioners and groups from the police, civic services, police, fire and disaster management (including NDRF, KMC and KP groups) were present all night to mitigate the crisis.
“This is an illegal structure. I express my deepest condolences to the families. I will urge the management to take strict action against those involved in the illegal structure. When this structure was in place, the other people involved were more vigilant,” Banerjee said. (ANI)