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Kolkata Flyover Collapse: Hope Fades For Remaining Survivors, Says Army

Hope Fades For Remaining Survivors Of Kolkata Bridge Collapse, Says Army
Firefighters and rescue workers search for victims at the site of an under-construction flyover after it collapsed in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
Firefighters and rescue workers search for victims at the site of an under-construction flyover after it collapsed in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Army officials, who are working closely with civic authorities and NRDF teams in relief and rescue operations at the flyover collapse site, today said they were not hopeful of finding any more body under the debris.

"The focus of operations is now on debris removal and clearance of the road so that normalcy is restored. As of this morning no more bodies are expected to be found under the rubble," army officials said.

The army rescue teams have been operating throughout the night along with the teams from civil defence, police and NRDF, trying to remove the debris from the affected area.

General Officer in Command of Army's Bengal area Lt Gen Rajeev Tewary is monitoring the progress of the Army teams closely.

(A man is seen trapped amid the debris of an under-construction flyover after it collapsed in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri)

Altogether there are close to 300 Army personnel including medical teams, surgeons, engineers and gas cutters working on the spot of flyover collapse in northern Kolkata.

Meanwhile, a four-member police team from West Bengal arrived in Hyderabad as part of its probe to question officials of Hyderabad-based IVRCL after the flyover it was constructing collapsed in Kolkata.

"They have come and are doing investigation," a top police official of Hyderabad Police said. About 60-metre-long portion of the under-construction Vivekananda flyover in Kolkata had collapsed yesterday.

The Kolkata Police yesterday registered a case against the Hyderabad-based construction firm IVRCL under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 407 of the IPC and sealed the local office of the company engaged in flyover's construction.

The toll in the flyover collapse rose to 24 today. Police there estimated that the number of people injured in the mishap was close to 90. Reacting to the flyover collapse, an IVRCL official had yesterday said, "It is nothing but God's act," even as another official denied any quality or technical issue as the cause behind the incident "as of now".

"It's nothing but a God's act. So far in 27 years we have constructed several number of bridges...it (today's collapse) never happened," K Panduranga Rao, Group Head (HR & Admin) of the Hyderabad-based company told reporters yesterday.

Shares of infrastructure firm IVRCL came under huge selling pressure for the second consecutive day, plummeting nearly 12 per cent, after a portion of a flyover being built by the company in Kolkata collapsed, killing at least 24 people and injuring several others.

The stock tumbled 10.79 per cent to hit its one-year low of Rs 5.70 on BSE. At NSE, it crashed 11.71 per cent to Rs 5.65 - its 52- week low. In the previous session also, the stock had lost 6 per cent following the news.

The death toll in the mishap has climbed to 24 after three more bodies were recovered from underneath the piles of debris of concrete and iron girdles of the broken portion of the under-construction bridge. Meanwhile, terming the mishap as "unfortunate", IVRCL has said it will cooperate with the state authorities in probing the incident.

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