Ekbalpore youths turn saviour for victims

Kolkata: Youths from Ekbalpore stepped up as rescuers for the people who got trapped under the debris when the middle portion of Majerhat Bridge collapsed on Tuesday evening.

Gulam Mustafa, Sheikh Sabbir, Md Aiyat and their friends were spending some leisure time in their locality close to the bridge. All of a sudden they heard a sound akin to an explosion. They got scared at first but soon realised that something heavy has collapsed. Initially they had thought that something had gone wrong at the project site of Metro railways adjacent to the bridge.

They ran to the spot and found that the middle portion of the structure had caved in. Without wasting any time, some of them initiated rescue work while a section of the youths went back to their locality to call more of their friends.

The portion of the bridge had collapsed along with a packed mini-bus of Sakherbazar-Howrah route, three cars and a few motorbikes. The youths heard passengers in the bus crying for help. The motorcyclists were also trying desperately to come out of the wreckage.

The youths jumped into action and managed to bring the passengers out of the mini-bus. The police had also joined the rescue work and took necessary steps to save as many lives as they could. They also rescued the people who were trapped inside the cars.

The injured persons were taken to nearby hospitals where they were provided with necessary treatment.

Mustafa later recollected the entire incident. "The bus was packed and it was heading towards Howrah from Behala Sakherbazar when the portion of the bridge collapsed. We went to the spot and initiated the rescue work without wasting any time," he said.