A section of Majerhat Bridge in posh south Kolkata came crashing down this afternoon.
A bridge in one of Kolkata's busiest parts crashed today, leaving many people and cars trapped. A whole section of the Majerhat bridge collapsed. While the damage is yet to be assessed, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered an investigation.
Derek Obrien, a parliamentarian of the ruling Trinamool Congress, tweeted that it was "devastating" and "difficult to gauge the enormity of the tragedy".
"Watching scenes of Majerhat bridge #Kolkata collapse . Devastating. Rescue teams, disaster management teams, Police CP,fire fighters already reach spot. Locals join. Rescue operations on.Prayers for those affected. Difficult to gauge enormity of tragedy as yet looking at visuals.(sic)" he tweeted.
"Cranes already put into action. Fire fighters using ladders already being used. Disaster management teams at work," he said in another tweet.
This is the second such bridge collapse in two years. On 31 March 2016, a 150 m steel span of the under-construction Vivekananda flyover collapsed, killing 27 people and leaving more than 80 injured.