Barddhaman station portico collapse: One of 2 victims succumbs to injury

Kolkata: One of the two persons who were critically injured in the collapse of a portion of the Barddhaman Railway Station building, died on Sunday.

"One of the two injured persons, who were taken to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, succumbed to his injuries," said Swapan Debnath, MLA of Purbasthali in Bardhaman.

The person who was critically injured died at the hospital at around 2.35 am. The identity of the deceased has not been ascertained yet.

"Enquiry by a committee of three JA Grade officers has been ordered to enquire into the cause of the incident. The whole structure will be demolished and then the new structure will be built. We have started consultation with IIT Kharagpur to keep the structural strength of the portico," said Suneet Sharma, general manager of Eastern Railway.

It has been learnt from railway sources that the committee will take the statements of eyewitnesses of the incident on Monday. The team of IIT is expected to visit the site on Monday as well.

At around 8.20 pm on Saturday, a portion of the portico near the station entrance

collapsed, injuring two persons. Both of them were imme-diately rushed to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, accompanied by a railway doctor.

The incident triggered panic among the passengers who were standing at the platform to catch a train.

DRM immediately rushed to the site with a team of officers to oversee relief work and to ensure that the passengers were not inconvenienced.

The area was immediately cordoned off and alternate routes were arranged for passengers to reach the platforms. RPF staff and commercial staff were deployed for guidance of passengers.

However, as a precautionary measure, train movement was initially suspended for platform number 1, which was restored afterwards with speed restriction.

The other injured person, identified as Hopna Tudu, 45, has been discharged after treatment from the hospital.

According to sources, the portico was undergoing renovation for a few days and was about to get finishing touches soon. It may be mentioned that Bardhaman, located around 95 km from Kolkata, is located on the busy Howrah-New Delhi line.

Some more parts of the building also fell off at around 9.15 pm. But by then police and fire brigade personnel were already in position, preventing any further mishap.