Hope fades; 25 dead in India flyover tragedy

The death toll from a collapsed flyover in eastern India rose to 25 on Friday, after emergency workers toiled through the night to find any remaining survivors trapped under huge slabs of concrete and metal girders.

But emergency authorities said there was little hope of finding any more survivors after pulling almost 100 people from under the rubble of the road that collapsed onto a busy street in Kolkata on Thursday, crushing cars and pedestrians.

"The rescue operation will not stop until all the blocks of concrete and iron girders have been cleared," said deputy police commissioner Akhilesh Chaturvedi as he announced the toll had risen to 25.

"Nearly 300 rescuers, including army and disaster management personnel, are working around the clock to clear the rubble."

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) however said there was little hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble of the flyover, which had been under construction since 2009.

It was unclear what caused the sudden collapse, but police have registered a preliminary case against the contractor.

The state government, which is fighting for re-election in a vote that starts on Monday, pledged to take action against those found responsible.

Survivors being treated at a nearby hospital described how tonnes of metal and concrete came crashing down onto the busy street without warning.

"The flyover collapsed in front of me. When I tried to escape, I was hit," said housewife Sabita Devi.

Hospital manager Sitaram Agarwal said many people were being treated for head and leg injuries sustained in the disaster.

But authorities initially struggled to get cranes and other large machinery through the narrow streets of Burrabazar, one of the oldest and most congested parts of the city.

'Gross neglect'

An injured builder told AFP at the scene that he had been working on the structure before it collapsed and had seen bolts come out of the metal girders.

"We were cementing two iron girders for the pillars, but the girders couldn't take the weight of the cement," said 30-year-old Milan Sheikh before being taken away to hospital.

"The bolts started coming out this morning and then the flyover came crashing down."

The disaster is the latest in a string of deadly construction accidents in India, where enforcement of safety rules is weak and substandard materials are often used.

Construction of the two-kilometre-long flyover began in 2009 and was supposed to be completed within 18 months, but has suffered a series of hold-ups.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state, of which Kolkata is the capital, said the government "will not spare" the contractors, Indian construction company IVRCL.

Police said they had registered preliminary cases of murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy against the company, whose offices in Kolkata have been sealed by investigators.

Earlier K.P. Rao, a representative of IVRCL, appeared to deny any responsibility for the disaster when he told reporters it was an "act of God".

The Times of India said it was "another brutal reminder of (the) shoddy quality of construction and gross neglect of public safety in our cities", calling for a thorough enquiry to determine what went wrong.

The disaster comes at a sensitive time for Banerjee, whose centre-left Trinamool Congress party is seeking re-election in the state.

Voting in the West Bengal elections begins on Monday and will be held in five phases lasting a month.

On Thursday, Banerjee blamed the previous state government under which the flyover project was started.

At least 20 killed as flyover collapses in Indian city

Hundreds of emergency workers in India battled Thursday evening to rescue dozens of people still trapped after a flyover collapsed onto a busy street, killing at least 20 people and injuring nearly 100.

The flyover was under construction when a 100-metre (330-feet) section collapsed suddenly onto a crowded street in the eastern city of Kolkata around lunchtime, crushing pedestrians, cars and other vehicles under huge concrete slabs and metal.

"So far 20 people are confirmed dead. The toll is likely to rise as many people are injured," Javed Ahmed Khan, disaster management minister for the state of West Bengal, told AFP.

Anil Shekhawat, a spokesman for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said the number of injured stood at 92.

Most suffered multiple fractures and were in a critical condition, Shekhawat added, saying that the death toll was expected to rise, with an unknown number of people still trapped under the rubble.

Specialist rescue teams armed with concrete and metal cutters, drilling machines, sensors to detect life and sniffer dogs were dispatched to the scene.

Anurag Gupta, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP hundreds of rescuers would work through the night to rescue the trapped victims.

"Three hundred men from NDRF are at the spot along with 300 Indian army men. Police and local authorities are also helping," Gupta said.

But many of those engaged in the rescue effort appeared to be ordinary people who were seen trying to pull away concrete slabs with their bare hands.

Workers struggled to get cranes and other large machinery through the narrow streets of Burrabazar, one of the oldest and most congested parts of the city, where locals desperately waited for news of missing loved ones.

"Everything is finished," screamed Parbati Mondal, whose fruit-seller husband had not been seen since the accident.

An injured builder told AFP at the scene that he had been working on the structure before it collapsed and had seen bolts come out of the metal girders.

"We were cementing two iron girders for the pillars, but the girders couldn't take the weight of the cement," said 30-year-old Milan Sheikh before being taken away to hospital.

"The bolts started coming out this morning and then the flyover came crashing down."

Construction on the two-kilometre-long flyover began in 2009 and was supposed to be completed within 18 months but has suffered a series of hold-ups.

The disaster is the latest in a string of deadly construction accidents in India, where enforcement of safety rules is weak and substandard materials are often used.

'Like a bomb blast'

Many locals said they were fleeing their houses for fear that more of the damaged structure could collapse.

"We heard a massive bang sound and our house shook violently. We thought it was an earthquake," 45-year-old resident Sunita Agarwal told AFP.

"We're leaving -- who knows what will happen next."

The disaster came just days before the World T20 cricket final, which is set to draw thousands of fans to the city this Sunday.

Television footage showed one bloodied body trapped under a concrete slab, and also the hand of a person sticking out from under twisted debris.

An eyewitness at the scene described a loud bang "like a bomb blast and suddenly there was a lot of smoke and dust".

A crane was seen lifting a mangled car from under the debris and part of a crushed bus was visible protruding from the rubble, although it was unclear if it had been carrying passengers.

K.P. Rao, a representative of the Indian construction company IVRCL, which was contracted to build the giant flyover, called the disaster an "act of God".

The firm was given an 18-month deadline and a budget of nearly $25 million to complete the project in 2009, but after seven years only about 55 percent of the work has been done.

In 2014 the company wrote to the city's development authority to say it was running out of funds to complete the project.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal of which Kolkata is the capital, told reporters those behind the disaster would "not be spared".

The accident comes as the West Bengal government is about to face state elections, with voting scheduled to start in early April and run until May.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.