A pedestrian was crushed under a loaded tanker that overturned on a ramp of the city-bound flank of the Vidyasagar Setu on Saturday afternoon.
The man lay trapped under the fly-ash laden truck for an hour-and-a-half before he was pulled out. Police had not been able to ascertain his identity till late on Saturday.
By the time the tanker could be partly turned and the man rushed to a hospital nearby, he had suffered critical injuries. Doctors said he was gasping when admitted. He passed away within half an hour of admission.
“The tanker was so heavily loaded that we struggled to move it to a side and rescue the man who was trapped underneath. We tried our best with the help of Kolkata police. But unfortunately we couldn’t save him,” said a senior officer of Shibpur police station under Howrah police commissionerate.
The tanker was headed towards Kolkata from Santragachhi. Soon after crossing Nabanna, it moved to one of the sides of the approach road, lost balance and overturned on the road divider, the police said.
The man, possibly standing on the divider, came under the tanker with his head and both arms jutting out.
Officers on duty near the toll plaza tried to rescue him but failed. The Shibpur police station and Howrah traffic control arranged for heavy-duty cranes. One crane tried to shift the tanker but the wires snapped. Two more were brought in. A police ambulance fitted with an oxygen cylinder arrived along with some welders who tried to cut parts of the tanker.
“We placed a cannula carrying oxygen from the ambulance on the man’s nostrils,” said an officer of Kolkata police. “The driver had run away.”
Around 6pm, the man was brought out. An ambulance rushed him to hospital. Officers continued their efforts to remove the tanker.
Around 6.45pm, a little over two hours after the tanker had overturned, the police managed to remove the vehicle and clear the road.