Many migrant workers from Malda, who left the state to earn a living, died in Mizoram when an under-construction railway bridge collapsed on Wednesday morning.

Though the official toll is 18, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee put the total number of deaths at 35, with 24 from Malda district alone.

In recent years, this has been one of the biggest tragedies involving migrant workers from Bengal. Immediately after the tragedy, Opposition parties in Bengal began asking uncomfortable questions to the Mamata Banerjee government on why people from the state had to migrate in search of jobs.

Among those who died at the construction site of the bridge in Sairang area near Aizawl being built over the Kurung river, around 20km from state capital Aizawl, most are from Malda's Pukhuria and Englishbazar.

"People from Malda go to different parts of the country as migrant labourers... The state government is trying its best to create employment opportunities in the state, but there is little doubt that demand for jobs is much more than the supply," said a senior district official.

The officer mentioned the relative difference in wages in Bengal and other states, which lures migrant labourers from this state.

"All these labourers in Mizoram were earning between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a month.... Earning such an amount by offering labour is not possible in most places in Bengal," said a senior official with an NGO that works with migrant labourers.

Immediately after the incident, the district administration of Malda took up the task of communicating with their counterparts in Assam. At least 35 workers from different villages of Malda were working at the site, said an official. They had left for the construction project around one-and-a-half months ago and were engaged by a labour contractor.

“What we have gathered from some other workers who could evade the accident was that the collapse was sudden and most of the workers didn’t get the chance to save themselves. Initially, the toll was 19 but later, it was found that 24 persons from the district have died,” the official added.

Among Malda's deceased, 13 are from a single village, Chouduar, under Pukhuria police station. Four workers from the Sattari Binodpur area of Englishbazar police station have also lost their lives. The rest are from the Gazole and Kaliachak police station areas.

In Chouduar, six members of a family died in the incident — Saidur Rahaman, 30, and Mozaffar Ali, 30, who are cousins, their nephews Washim Sheikh, 19, Sebu Sheikh, 21, Rahaman Ansarul Sheikh, 19, and Mosharaf Sheikh, 20.

Mohammad Hamidur Rahaman, a senior member of the family, said they were too shocked to react.

“We don’t know how to console the women and children of the family,” he said.

Since morning, Chouduar village was in mourning, with bereaved families, their neighbours and relatives sitting in groups and mourning those gone.

In Sattari, three members of a family died in the accident.

Ranjit Sarkar, who was in his late forties, his son Suman and another relative Jayanta, both in their early twenties, got buried under the debris as a portion of the bridge collapsed.

As the news spread, Trinamul and the Left leaders reached the villages and spoke with the families.

Subhadeep Sanyal, the district Inttuc president of Malda, said the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has asked them to provide all necessary help to the families.

“We will extend all help to them. Also, the administration is working on their part. The families have suffered irreparable losses,” said Sanyal.

The estimates on the size of migrant labour population, in India and abroad, especially the Gulf countries, from Bengal varies between 27 lakh to 38 lakh.

Among Bengal districts from where the number of migrant workers is higher is Malda, a district with a minority population of around 52 per cent.

District BJP leaders, while speaking on the issue, slammed the Mamata Banerjee government.

Ujjwal Dutta, the BJP president of Malda north (organisational) district, said earlier people used to go to states like Maharashtra, Kerala and Rajasthan to earn, but now they go to far-flung areas like Kashmir and the Northeast to work "in a risky situation". "Earlier, we saw workers from Malda were gunned down by terrorists in Kashmir, and now they lost lives in Mizoram. These deaths show the helplessness of jobless people and the failure of the state government to create jobs for them,” he said.

Abdur Rahim Boxi, the Trinamul president of Malda, however, pointed out that the Centre’s decision to halt funds for the 100 days' work scheme was a big reason for migration.

“Also, in Malda, erosion is a major issue. Many people were forced to migrate to other states for jobs after they lost everything to erosion. The Centre is aware of it and is yet sitting silently...,” he said.

Officials of Malda district administration said they were putting in all efforts to bring the bodies back.

“We are preparing a list of migrant workers who have died," said Nitin Singhania, the district magistrate. "According to the chief minister's directives, we have communicated with their families."