Kolkata bridge collapse: Toll reaches 3, NDRF calls off rescue

One more body was recovered from the bridge collapse site in south Kolkata's Majherhat on Thursday, taking the death toll to three in the accident, police said.

The recovery was made at around 6.30 a.m. as the rescue operations continued overnight.

"The body was that of one Goutam Mondal trapped under the rubble," the police said.

They suspect he is one of the two labourers who were missing since the bridge collapsed on Tuesday afternoon. The rescue team late on Wednesday recovered the other body of Pranab Dey.

Both are from West Bengal's Murshidabad distrct.

"The rescue operation has ended," said an official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

As many as 19 people were injured in the accident and many of them, were discharged from the hospitals. The condition of two remain critical.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the family of the deceased while the critically injured would get Rs 1 lakh each.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the collapse site on Wednesday evening and said the accident would be investigated by a high level committee led by the state Chief Secretary Malay De.

According to her, a compensation cheque was already sent to Soumen Bagh's family, who died on Tuesday after the 54 year-old bridge collapsed.

Banerjee on Thursday would hold a meeting with the state Public Works Department (PWD) and Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) officials and sought a detailed health report of the bridges.

--IANS

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