Death Toll Rises To 15 In Warehouse Collapse

Kolkata: The death toll in the warehouse collapse under construction in Taratala, in the southwestern part of the city, increased from 11 to 15, as rescue teams continued to search for workers trapped under the rubble even 48 hours after the incident. Four bodies were recovered from the area on Friday.

They were all pronounced dead on arrival at SSKM Hospital. Currently, 18 injured workers are receiving treatment at the state-owned facility. 5 of them are in critical condition. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said he wanted to know from the rescue teams when their operations would be completed.

Meanwhile, the sixth accused, Kalicharan Banerjee, whose name was not included in the FIR but was mentioned by the CM, was arrested by the police on Thursday night. He worked as a special duty (OSD) officer of former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim of the Trinamul Congress. Mr. Banerjee was produced in the Alipore Court by the police.

During the hearing, public prosecutor Sourin Ghoshal told the judge that the arrested OSD was an influential figure in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and played an instrumental role in approving the faulty construction plan of Shambhunath Behera’s depot to be built on P/2 Transport Depot Road.

However, Mr. Banerjee’s lawyer argued that his client had no role in the case and opposed the police’s request for remand. Rejecting his claim, the judge then decided to keep the defendant in police custody until July 4. The tragic incident left former TMC councilor Bishwarup Dey of KMC’s ward number 48 so upset over various allegations that he quit his party. He announced his decision with a video message.

“I have been very disturbed for the last two days since the incident in Taratala. Everyone is pointing fingers at TMC and KMC for everything that led to the incident, from corruption to violation of rules. I made a big mistake by joining TMC. I have to make up for it. That’s why I left the party,” Mr. Dey said in the video.