Overview
- An under-construction warehouse roof in Taratala, Garden Reach, collapsed on Wednesday, June 24, trapping workers and triggering a multi-agency search and rescue operation that has now moved into its final/search completion stage.
- Rescue teams from the NDRF, the Army, Indian Railways and state units used life-detection cameras, oxy-cutters and sensors to scan the 6,689 sq m site and have confirmed 16 deaths with about 17–18 injured receiving hospital care.
- Kolkata Police formed a Special Investigation Team and have reported six arrests, including a former OSD to ex-mayor Firhad Hakim, while the principal contractor named in the FIR was found dead at the site.
- Preliminary SIT findings point to the use of poor-quality construction materials and a flawed casting pattern as likely causes, and investigators are using post-mortems and technical inspections to build the evidentiary case.
- Families of mostly migrant workers face acute loss of income and trauma, the state has announced cash compensation and will cover medical bills, and political groups have filed complaints seeking FIRs over past municipal approvals.