A worker died when the roof of an under-construction private English-medium school building collapsed on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town on Thursday afternoon, soon after the concrete mix was spread over the shuttering.

The body of the worker, Abhijit Das, 30, was recovered from the debris later. It is not yet clear if other workers are under the pile of debris. Work to clear the debris is on.

Sources said that construction work of the school building was on for the past couple of years at Sonari-Kakribari village under Pundibari police station and around 7km from here.

“Today (Thursday), the concrete mix was laid on the shuttering frame to cast a roof on the building. Suddenly, we heard a loud thud. As we reached here, we saw that the entire roof had collapsed with the wooden planks and bamboo. Two workers, who were checking the shuttering after the concrete mix was laid, managed to come out,” said Sabitri Barman, a resident.

As the news spread, a large police contingent, along with firemen and civil defence volunteers, reached the spot and started searching for other workers.

Police also engaged an excavator to clear the debris.

“We are trying to find out if anybody else is under the debris. A probe has started. We will talk to the school authorities and the construction firm carrying out the project,” said a police officer.