Kolkata: No work was going on at affected Majerhat bridge collapse site, clarifies Eastern Railway

Issuing a statement, the Eastern Railway said: "It is stated by a section of press and media that Railway's construction work was going on. It is clarified that no railway work was going on at the affected Majerhat bridge."

The railway has also clarified that there is no link between the ongoing construction of the metro projects and the accident.

In view of the collapse of the bridge, train services through Majerhat have been controlled, media reports said.

Circular railway train services are maintained between Dum Dum Junction and BBD Bag.

At least one person was killed and 19 others were injured as a portion of a bridge collapsed in Kolkata's Majherhat area on Tuesday evening, officials said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has brought in sniffer dogs to find if anyone is trapped under the wreckage.  

Earlier, at around 4:40 pm, a nearly 200 feet block of a 40-year-old rail over bridge collapsed on Majherhat canal beside railway tracks.

Several private cars and motorcycles, three app based cabs and one minibus were trapped in the wreckage and several people were hurt in the mishap.

Local police, state fire and emergency services officials, Disaster Management Group (DMG) personnel, an unit of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a team from the Indian Army joined the rescue operation.

After being rescued, injured persons were rushed to CMRI and SSKM hospitals nearby.

The youth, who was injured in Majherhat bridge collapse and later died in SSKM hospital, has been identified as Soumen Das.

He was a resident of Behala Silpara area.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is currently in Darjeeling, said that she was monitoring the rescue operation continuously.

"I heard that one person died in the bridge collapse while nine and ten injured are undergoing treatment at CMRI and SSKM hospitals respectively," Mamata Banerjee said.

"I am going back to Kolkata tomorrow and a high level probe, under the leadership of Chief Secretary, has been ordered into the reason behind the accident," Banerjee added.

Meanwhile, a source in the state government claimed that at least five persons were killed in the accident.

Traffic at the area and rail service in Sealdah-Budge Budge section were disrupted since the bridge fell down.

Prime Minister expresses sadness:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his sadness over the tragedy and called the incident as 'unfortunate'. "The collapse of a part of a bridge in Kolkata is deeply unfortunate. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. I pray that those who are injured recover at the earliest," Modi tweeted.

Politicians react on social media:

Union Minister Babul Supriyo said: "Extremely disturbing news of the collapsed #MajherhatBridge in #Kolkata. Praying for the victims of the tragedy and speedy recovery of the injured."

Girish Park Bridge collapse horror returns to shock Kolkata:

On Mar 31, the under- construction Vivekananda Flyover collapsed in Kolkata's Girish Park area, killing at least 26 people and leaving many injured.

 

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Images & videos by Subhodeep Sardar)