KOLKATA, India, April 2 (UPI) — The death toll from a major construction accident in India’s West Bengal has risen from 24 to 27, officials said.
An overpass under construction located in a busy area of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, collapsed suddenly earlier this week. At least five officials of the India-based IVRCL construction company have been detained in an ongoing investigation into the matter.
Police have reportedly filed a criminal complaint against the IVRCL company.
So far, about 90 people have been pulled from the rubble. Officials said additional 27 have died.
IVRCL official K. Panduranga Rao has likened the collapse to an act of God, saying “So far in 27 years, we have constructed a number of bridges and it has never happened. As a company, we are also in shock.”
Thursday’s collapse occurred days before a major state election, pouring political fuel onto the incident.
“IVRCL was blacklisted in 2009 and, due to its negligence, two workers were killed during a project in Hyderabad,” Bharatiya Janata Party official S.N. Singh said, according to Times of India. Since 2009, the Kolkata bridge has been under construction, with several disruptions postponing its completion.
The original completion date had been scheduled for five years ago.
Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, said relatives of those killed in the collapse would receive compensation of about $7,500. Those who have been critically injured would receive about $3,000 each.
This isn’t the first collapse in India, since 2009 there have been at least seven collapses, each killing dozens of people.
