Ten IVRCL officials detained, toll in flyover collapse rises to 24

KOLKATA: A day after the collapse of a flyover portion in the city, police today detained 10 officials of the construction company IVRCL for questioning while two state government engineers were suspended even as the toll rose to 24 with the recovery of three more bodies from the debris.

The 10 IVRCL detainees include a few engineers, managers and vice-president of the construction company, a Kolkata police official said.

"We are questioning them to find out what went wrong before the flyover collapsed. Strict action will be taken against them," the officer said, adding that a police team has reached Hyderabad to meet the top bosses of the company.

The state government today suspended two engineers of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority who were involved in the construction of the flyover.

"The concerned chief engineer and the concerned executive engineer of KMDA have been placed under suspension pending completion of the probe," a statement from the state secretariat 'Nabanna' said.

It also ordered immediate inspection of the remaining portion of the flyover to ascertain its stability and safety.

Police had yesterday registered a case against the construction firm under sections 304, 308 and 407 of the IPC and sealed its local office.

Around 90 people were injured in the collapse and the condition of seven of them was stated to be "very critical".

Agencies engaged in rescue work said that there was a possibilty of a person being trapped inside a truck which is still under a girder.

Armymen along with police, disaster management team, NDRF and fire brigade personnel engaged in rescue work throughout the night, pulled out three more bodies from under the rubble of concrete, a police officer said today.

"Nobody alive has been rescued... Two mangled autorickshaws apart from a few other vehicles have been pulled out. One lorry is still stuck inside... Whether there is anybody trapped inside cannot be certain," he said.