Kolkata: Residents and office-goers near Transport Depot Road were the first to rush to the rescue of the labourers trapped under the debris after an under-construction godown collapsed on Wednesday.Rohan Roy, who works at a nearby firm, stepped out for tea with two friends from other offices, Vishal Agarwal and Karan Das, when they heard the loud crash. Within moments, the area was covered in dust.The three ran to the spot and found the warehouse caved in, trapping several labourers under the rubble. Before police arrived, they began clearing debris with their bare hands, sustaining injuries while trying to pull out survivors.
Kolkata collapse
“On hearing the loud sound, we could not imagine that such a serious incident has happened here. As we rushed to the spot, we heard the voice of people struggling for life underneath. It was difficult to pull them out and I crawled down with Karan and pushed some labourers up,” Roy recounted.Das said the immediate challenge was to remove the debris trapping the workers. “Our challenge was to remove the debris under which so many human beings got trapped. Risking our life, we moved inside after hearing the cries of people asking for help. We also got hurt while bringing out people.”
Kolkata collapse
Agarwal said the rescue effort began even before police and ambulances reached the site. “We did not any tools needed for rescue work. Since it’s a construction site, we spotted a spade and a pickaxe. Using these tools, we dug out the debris and managed to pull out four trapped labourers, including a woman. One of them was already dead,” he said.More locals joined soon. Saddam Queresi, another rescuer, said the scene was difficult to process. “It took me some time to come to terms with the gory scene. I found people lying under iron structures. One of them appeared lifeless. About 60-70 people were inside when the roof collapsed. We called out more locals to expedite the rescue work as the NDRF and SDRF teams reached the spot much later.”
Kolkata collapse
Ankit Singh was about to have lunch at home when he heard a “deafening” sound and ran out. “My home is about 700 metres away from this spot. When I came here, I found some locals were already trying to save the people crying for help. I found one maimed person while bringing out a few others who were alive but could not speak anything. I brought out three persons and one of them was dead,” said Singh, a local rescuer.Soumen Pal, another local, said: “We are trying to rescue those who are alive. We brought more manpower to rescue the trapped workers and many of them, as I felt, lost lives.”
