A balcony and a portion of the third floor of a five-storeyed building in Pathuriaghata, north Kolkata, collapsed on Wednesday night, killing a 48-year-old woman and injuring her husband and son.
Residents of the building said Ajay Kumar Agarwal, 52, his wife Ila and their younger son, a Class XI student, were on their third-floor balcony around 10.45pm when a portion of the balcony and the floor of a room adjacent to it collapsed.
All three were trapped under debris.
“Ajay’s father Om Prakash Agarwal, sister and a brother were on the floor above and were unscathed,” said family member Sandeep Agarwal.
“Ajay’s elder son, a commerce graduate, was not home,” he said.
Alarmed at the sound of the crash, residents of the area and passers-by rushed to the building at 65B Pathuriaghata Street. They alerted Ellora Saha, councillor of Ward 24, which covers parts of Rabindra Sarani, KK Tagore Street and Nimtala Ghat Street.
Officers from Jorabagan police station and personnel from the fire and emergency services department and the disaster management team arrived and started a rescue operation. The team, armed with gas cutters and crowbars, cut chunks of concrete, wooden frames and iron rods.
Raghab, the son, was the first to be pulled out.
“Ajay was rescued from the debris around 2am, followed by Ila. They were taken to the Calcutta Medical College, where Ila died,” said an officer.
Family members said Ajay, who works in a sari shop in Burrabazar, and his son were shifted to a nursing home. Till Thursday evening, Ajay’s condition remained critical. Doctors said he had suffered multiple injuries on his head and other body parts and was under observation.
Around 15 families live in the building, which the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) had declared “dangerous” because of its dilapidated condition.
Mayor Firhad Hakim called on residents of the building on Thursday and assured them that the debris will be removed and the area cordoned off for the time being to ensure no one else gets injured.
A senior official of the KMC said the civic body had issued notices to the owner of the building twice — in 2018 and 2022.
“Both times we said the building was in a poor condition and needs repairs. The notices were issued under Section 411 (1) of the KMC Act,” the official said.
The KMC will issue certificates of occupancy to the tenants of the building so they do not think they will be evicted if the owner wants to pull down the structure and erect a new one, the official said.
The KMC lodged a police complaint against the building’s owner.