Old building in Kolkata collapses; one woman killed, 19 still trapped inside

KOLKATA — A 200-year-old building in north Kolkata collapsed early on Tuesday morning after nightlong heavy showers in the city, killing one person. As many as 19 other residents of the building are still feared trapped under the debris, prompting apprehensions of a rise in the death toll in the coming hours.

The woman, whose body had been recovered from the rubble, has been identified as Urmila Shaw. The house is located at Brajadulal Street in the Simla-Beadon Street neighbourhood near the busy Girish Park and Chittaranjan Avenue in North Kolkata.

Just as Urmila Shaw was about to come out of the house early this morning for some work, the building collapsed and she died on the spot.

Personnel from the West Bengal fire services department, state disaster management department and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already reached the spot and are attempting to rescue the 19 other individuals trapped in the rubble.

The almost 200-year-old building has only one entry and exit route. It is learnt that even after the house was declared abandoned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) authorities a long time ago, 20 people were still living in the house.

There is a very narrow lane in front of the house, which is making the situation even more difficult for the rescue team to conduct the evacuation operations.

An eyewitness said that the entire locality was shocked by a sudden loud noise early this morning. As the local people rushed to the spot, they saw the house collapsing following nightlong showers.

The local people spotted the woman’s body under the debris. The KMC authorities were informed and her body was recovered from the debris and she was declared dead. It is learnt that her husband and son are among the 19 other people still trapped within the construction.

It is learnt that besides declaring the said building as abandoned quite some time ago, the civic authorities had been repeatedly asking the residents there either to vacate the house or to conduct a thorough renovation of the three-story construction.

While some of the erstwhile residence adhered to the advice of the civic authorities and left, the remaining ignored that and continued staying there.