Majerhat bridge collapse: Third body recovered from debris in Kolkata

Rescue workers found another body on Thursday morning from the debris of the collapsed 50-year-old Majerhat bridge on the arterial Diamond Harbour Road in south Kolkata, officials said, taking the death toll in the accident to three.

There was no official confirmation on the identity of the body but the family of Gautam Mondal, a Metro rail construction worker, claimed that it was his. Mondal was cooking under the bridge when the accident happened.

Police had confirmed the death of 21-year-old Soumen Bag, a resident of Silpara in Behala, and said 19 others, including two women, were injured after a portion of the bridge collapsed on Tuesday. The body of Pranab Dey, a construction worker from Murshidabad district, was found from under the rubble on Wednesday evening.

Two of the injured, who are admitted to Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (SSKM) Hospital and Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI), are stated to be in a critical condition.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will hold an emergency meeting t the state secretariat at 3:30pm to discuss the mishap. On Wednesday evening, she said the area felt big tremors due to the construction work of the Metro rail, though she stopped short of saying that it was the reason for the mishap.

The West Bengal Public Works Department’s (PWD) Alipore division is in charge of the bridge.