Two persons, including a baby, died after an old building collapsed in North Kolkata in the early hours of Wednesday amid heavy rainfall. The incident took place at the Ahiritola Lane under the Jorabagan police station area at around 6.30 am.
Speaking to reporters, the chairman of the Board of Administrators of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Firhad Hakim said, “Nine persons were rescued from under the rubble. The building was earlier declared unsafe by the KMC.”
According to Kolkata Police sources, the two deceased were an elderly woman and her two-year-old granddaughter who were declared brought dead by doctors after they were rushed to a nearby hospital.
“Among the rest of the injured, two persons are in critical condition,” a Kolkata Police officer said. Rescue operations were conducted by a large team of Disaster Management, Fire Brigade and Police personnel.
“The building was in very bad condition. If the occupants listened to us earlier, the incident could have been avoided. We will not take any chances and demolish the rest of the structure,” Hakim said.
Two families used to live in the dilapidated building, he said.
A huge team of the Disaster Management, Fire Department and the police were involved in the rescue efforts, he added.
Fire Minister Sujit Bose and Woman and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja, who is the local MLA, visited the spot to oversee the rescue operations.
Hakim blamed those living in the building for the deaths, saying they did not vacate it despite repeated warnings.
"The entire building is in a very bad shape. We cannot take any chances and that is why we are pulling down the rest of the structure. If the occupants had listened to us, we could have avoided this disaster," he said.
Kolkata has experienced heavy rains since Tuesday evening. In the 24 hours till 8 am on Wednesday, the city recorded 87 mm of rainfall.
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