22 die in India bridge collapse
Fri Apr 01, 2016 09:03:am World
2.8K By sosa hills
At least 22 people died and about 66 others were injured after a bridge under construction in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata collapsed, according to local police.
Video images of the incident Thursday in a congested part of the city showed huge chunks of concrete collapsing on cars and people below as the flyover crumbles. Injured and dead are still being recovered and the toll could change, the police said.
At least 70 people were also reportedly injured in the incident which happened in a busy part of the Girish Park area.
The injured were admitted to two hospitals in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, the Associated Press quoted officials.
CNN reports that authorities put the number of the dead at 22 while several others were still trapped in the rubble.
An official of India's National Disaster Management Authority, Maj. Gen. Anurag Gupta, told CNN on Thursday evening that authorities had yet to know how many people were driving across the bridge when it fell.
"We cannot predict how many people are still under wreckage," Gupta said. "We can't tell, since it's a bridge and not a building," he said.
It was reported that the flyover ought to have been completed three years ago, but construction was delayed six times. Building collapses are common in India, where regulations can be poorly enforced and some builders use substandard materials.
Indian infrastructure company IVRCL Ltd. said it was building the project and had complied with all necessary quality requirements. IVRCL plunged 5.2 percent yesterday after the accident, the biggest decline since Feb. 11.
Video images of the incident Thursday in a congested part of the city showed huge chunks of concrete collapsing on cars and people below as the flyover crumbles. Injured and dead are still being recovered and the toll could change, the police said.
At least 70 people were also reportedly injured in the incident which happened in a busy part of the Girish Park area.
The injured were admitted to two hospitals in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, the Associated Press quoted officials.
CNN reports that authorities put the number of the dead at 22 while several others were still trapped in the rubble.
An official of India's National Disaster Management Authority, Maj. Gen. Anurag Gupta, told CNN on Thursday evening that authorities had yet to know how many people were driving across the bridge when it fell.
"We cannot predict how many people are still under wreckage," Gupta said. "We can't tell, since it's a bridge and not a building," he said.
It was reported that the flyover ought to have been completed three years ago, but construction was delayed six times. Building collapses are common in India, where regulations can be poorly enforced and some builders use substandard materials.
Indian infrastructure company IVRCL Ltd. said it was building the project and had complied with all necessary quality requirements. IVRCL plunged 5.2 percent yesterday after the accident, the biggest decline since Feb. 11.
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