A woman and her three-year-old granddaughter were sleeping on the ground floor of a two-storey building in Ahiritola when a part of the rain-soaked, dilapidated structure collapsed early on Wednesday, killing both.
Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation could not estimate the age of the building on Ahiritola Street, in north Calcutta, but residents of the neighbourhood said it was “at least 100 years old”.
Champa Garai, 47, and the child, Srijika, were crushed under the debris of the first floor. The child’s parents were on the upper floor and escaped with relatively minor injuries.
The police said Champa was still clutching Srijika to her when the rescue team extricated them from under the debris. Both were unconscious and taken to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, where they were declared dead.
Srijika’s mother Priyanka, 24, who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, gave birth to a girl at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital hours after her elder daughter was declared dead.
The building that collapsed on Wednesday had been declared “dangerous” by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation nine years ago and had not undergone repairs for decades. Several tenant families live on the premises.
The police said that apart from the four members of the same family, at least eight others were rescued by breaking the wall of an adjoining building.
Neighbours said they heard a very loud crashing sound around 6.45am and found that a large part of the building at 9 Ahiritola Street had caved in.
“I could see the extent of the damage from the first-floor balcony of my house. Police, fire department and the DMG (Disaster Management Group) had come. After some time, the bodies of a woman and a child were taken out from under the debris. The woman was still holding on to the child,” said Nandu Shaw, a neighbour.
The owner of the house and his two sons used to live on the premises before moving out, residents of the locality said.
Senior police officers of the north division said no case had been registered till late on Wednesday evening.
“We have not received any specific complaint regarding the collapse of the building and the deaths. We have been very busy with the rescue work,” said a senior police officer.
Sources said the police were trying to contact the owner of the building, which is situated on a congested north Kolkata road and surrounded by similar looking old buildings.
Police and civic officials said they had long been requesting the occupants to move out.
“It is unfortunate that people do not take these warnings seriously. We have no power to force people out of the buildings. We can only request them to evacuate when a building is declared dangerous by the KMC,” said an officer of Jorabagan police station.
