Highway overpass collapses in Kolkata; 1 killed, 23 hurt

KOLKATA, India — Rescuers using huge cranes, iron cutters and drills worked overnight to clear the wreckage of a highway overpass that collapsed Tuesday in the crowded Indian city of Kolkata. The concrete segment that slammed to the ground killed at least one person and injured another 23, police said Wednesday.

The rescuers did not find anyone trapped in the debris overnight, but a police officer said the clearing operation was continuing Wednesday morning.

A half-dozen vehicles, including a bus, fell with the broken section of concrete, about 100 feet (30 metres) long, in Kolkata’s Majerhat neighbourhood.

The officer in the police control room said 24 injured people were taken to hospitals. At least one person died, according to an official at the city’s Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.