Two people died and as many were injured when a portion of a 150-year-old dilapidated two-storey building collapsed in Kolkata around 2 am on Monday following frequent rains in the past 48 hours.
Gopal Naskar (60) and Manik Jana (48) died whereas Ratan Jana (48) and Binod Shaw (50), who were sleeping under the building, escaped with minor injuries, police said.
Baithakkhana, adjacent to the busy railway station of Sealdah, is an extremely crowded trading area that was one of the earliest settlements of the city that was developed over more than three centuries ago.
The building was about 150 years old, and dozens of persons used to sleep at night in the building.
According to the police, around 400 sqft of the building caved in.
“The rescue work has ended,” said Subhankar, an officer of Muchipara police station, who was part of the rescue work along with fire brigade personnel and disaster management team.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councillor Aparajita Dasgupta claimed they had repeatedly warned the authorities and occupants of the danger posed by the structure.
“KMC issued notices five-six times warning the occupants of the perils posed by the structure. But the owners of the building did not pay heed. They would not contact us at all, even when we summoned them,” said Dasgupta.
She indicated that a bigger disaster could have taken place. “It was a Sunday night and fewer people were sleeping in the building. Usually more take shelter at night on weekdays,” she said.
The last incident of building collapse in the city happened in September last year, when a three-storey building, declared dangerous by civic authorities, collapsed in a densely-populated area of north Kolkata killing three members of a family.
