Two women died after being trapped under the debris of a century-old three-storeyed residential building which collapsed at Pathuriaghata in the city, the police said on Wednesday.
The two women re-entered the collapsing building to fetch some valuables left inside after they, along with other occupants, vacated it when another portion of the building crashed down on them on Wednesday.
The bodies of Sandhya Rai (44), mother of two school-going children, and Shweta Rai (40) were retrieved in a joint operation by the city Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as well as the fire services.
The building hosting six to seven families is situated only a few hundred metres away from the collapsed portion of the Vivekananda Road flyover.
City mayor Sovan Chatterjee and local leaders visited the place on Tuesday night.
It was on Tuesday only when the residents of the building, mostly staying on rent for several decades, had met local councillor (Ward 24) Ellora Saha with a request to declare the building “unsafe”, a senior police officer said.
“We are still clearing the place,” the police officer said. -
