Old building collapses in Kolkata, 17 people rescued

Seventeen people were rescued after an old residential building in South Kolkata partially collapsed on Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said.

"All the 17 people trapped in the partially collapsed Calcutta Improvement Trust (CIT) residential building were rescued. No injuries were reported from the incident," a fire official confirmed.

A part of the building's third floor suddenly collapsed at around 4 p.m on Tuesday afternoon while repair work was going on, the residents said.

"A portion of the roof of the building's third floor fell off during the repair work today. The second floor also partially collapsed under the impact. Thank God, no one was outside when it happened, else a major accident would have happened," a resident, visibly panicked after the incident, said.

According to the residents, the building was in a vulnerable state as there was no maintenance for nearly 50 years.

Fire Department officials and disaster management team rushed to the spot after the incident. City Mayor Sovan Chatterjee also visited the site to supervise the rescue operation.

"The building collapsed during the repair work. The rescue operation has been conducted successfully," Chatterjee said.

--IANS

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