Death toll reaches 10 in Garden Reach building collapse, police fear further rise

Rescue operation, started early on Monday, could not be completed even on Tuesday evening as lanes leading to collapse site are too narrow for large concrete- and soil-removing vehicles

MONALISA CHAUDHURI, SUBHAJOY ROY, TT, 20.03.24,: The death toll resulting from the collapse of the -construction five-storey building in Garden Reach rose to 10 following the discovery of a body under huge concrete chunks on Tuesday.

Police said there could be more people or bodies stuck under the debris of the collapsed structure.

The victim whose body was recovered on Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Mohammad Jamil, 40. The body was taken out from under a huge concrete slab, said an officer.

The rescue operation, which started early on Monday, could not be completed even on Tuesday evening as the lanes leading to the collapse site are too narrow for the large concrete- and soil-removing vehicles that are usually needed in such rescue operations, police said.

“We cannot deploy big earth-removing vehicles and dumpers, which could have expedited the removal of debris. Our rescue teams — made up of personnel from the Disaster Management Group, National Disaster Response Force and fire services department — have to repeat the drill of breaking huge concrete chunks and removing them on mini-trucks. There is no space for large soil- and concrete-removing vehicles,” said a senior police officer at Lalbazar.

Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim said on Tuesday: “Rescue work is on. It is being carried out slowly. There could be people inside. Once everyone is rescued, we will clean up the entire space and then see what lies here.”

The police said the rescue work was being carried out with “a lot of caution” to prevent injury to anyone who could be trapped under the rubble.

“The rescue teams are using drill machines to dig through concrete slabs and reach the victims stuck under the rubble. On Monday, we could hear shouts and cries of people who were trapped under the concrete chunks. It was easier to locate them and drill the concrete slabs close to them. But now everything has fallen silent. So the pace of the operation has slowed down. There could be people inside who are unconscious but alive,” an officer who is part of the rescue operations said on Tuesday evening.

Till now, the rescue teams have been drilling portions of the concrete slabs, using torch to check whether there are people — conscious or unconscious — below the chunks.

A portion of the concrete slabs was yet to be broken and removed till Tuesday night.

NDRF, DMG and fire department personnel were breaking the concrete chunks. KMC workers were removing the rubble on mini-trucks.

On Tuesday evening, a police officer said stench was emanating from the collapse site, indicating that there could be a body inside.

The police said at least one person was reported missing from the area. He is suspected to have been trapped under the concrete.

Sheru, a business associate of Mohammad Wasim, the promoter who was building the collapsed structure, is suspected to have been trapped under the debris.

Wasim reportedly told the police after his arrest on Monday that Sheru got trapped after the collapse. Sheru’s son Mohammad Shahrukh told The Telegraph on Tuesday night that his father was missing.

“He was near the building when it collapsed. He is still missing,” Shahrukh said.