Flyover collapses in India

Several people are reported to have died in Thursday's flyover collapse in Kolkata. However, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred

Several people were injured and an unconfirmed number of people reportedly killed after a part of an under-construction flyover under construction collapsed in Kolkata in the busy hours of afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said at least 1,000 people were present in the vicinity when iron beams from the flyover fell over several people and cars parked underneath.

According to ANI, ten people have been reportedly killed in the incident. However, confirmation from the police is still awaited.

“Monumental tragedy. Rescue operations (are) on. Many feared dead. Chief Secretary/Home Secretary at the site. Chief Minister headed back to Kolkata immediately," national spokesperson of Trinamool Congress, the state's ruling party, tweeted.

 

However, this is not the first time such a tragedy has truck cities in India. 

 

Here is a list of other such incidents: 

 

1) February 12, 2015: A portion of an under-construction flyover collapsed in north-west Delhi injuring at least three people. 

The incident occurred near West Enclave in Pitampura, near Rohini, according to reports.

February 12, 2015, New Delhi flyover collapse (Image courtesy Zee News)

2) March 3, 2013: A huge portion of a flyover on the eastern side of Kolkata collapsed leaving three persons injured, police said.

More casualties could have occurred, but the incident took place at 4.30 am in the morning when there was hardly any traffic on the Ultadanga flyover. 

3) July 12, 2009: Six persons were killed and 13 others injured when an under-construction over-bridge of the Delhi Metro collapsed in July that year. 

The incident, which left one engineer engineer among the dead, was the second such incident in eight months.

According to The Times of India, the accident took place as one of the pillars of the bridge gave in when a launcher was being erected close to Lady Sriram College in Dhamrudpur in Lajpat Nagar.

4) September 9, 2007: A flyover being constructed in Hyderabad by Gammon India collapsed leaving at least 15 people dead. 

As a result, the then share price of Gammon India plunged 12% to Rs 401 after the flyover it was building in Hyderabad collapsed on September 9.

The technical committee, which was appointed to look into the causes of the flyover collapse, held Gammon India, the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and the project management consultants, as primarily responsible for the incident.