One of the two persons injured in a partial collapse of the Bardhaman Railway Station building in West Bengal succumbed to his injuries early on Sunday, a Minister in the State Cabinet, Swapan Debnath said. He said that the man, who suffered serious injuries when a chunk of concrete fell on his head, could not be saved despite efforts by doctors of the Bardhaman Medical College Hospital. Hospital sources confirmed the death of the man, who was in his thirties.
A portion of the roof of the two-storey station building collapsed near the enquiry counter on Saturday evening. Another small portion of the same building had also collapsed around 9.30 p.m. on Saturday, but no one was injured as people moved away from the station premises after the initial incident.
Committee to probe
The other injured person, who suffered a fracture in one of his legs, has been treated at the State-run hospital, where Railway doctors had also rushed on Saturday evening to provide necessary assistance, an Eastern Railway spokesperson said. Construction and repair work was underway at the century-old station building, nearly 100 km from Kolkata. A three-member committee has been formed by the Eastern Railway to conduct a probe into the cause of the incident, the spokesperson said.
Mr. Debnath argued that the incident took place “owing to negligence of the Railways as the station constructed in 1855 was not repaired properly”, while Union Minister Babul Supriya said, Railways cannot “bypass its responsibility and senior Union Minister Piyush Goyel is looking into the issue.”
(With Agency inputs.)
