The death toll in the Kolkata Taratala warehouse collapse climbed to 16 on Saturday. The toll climbed with the passing away of an injured person in a hospital, officials said.
"A person, Khalek Sardar of Basanti, undergoing treatment at the hospital, died. With this, the toll in the incident rose to 16, with 17 others undergoing treatment.", a senior state government official said.
Rescue operations are being carried out on the fourth consecutive day since the fatal warehouse collapse, with multiple agencies joining in and sifting through the debris to ensure that no one is still trapped.
Cameras have been placed beneath the rubble to check for trapped persons, while mobile phone tower data is being used to trace the location of individuals whose phones remain active under the debris.
"Our first priority is to complete the search and rescue operation. Teams are carefully checking every part of the collapsed structure. Massive debris clearance will start only after we are fully satisfied that no one is trapped inside," an official said. The official further added on that large-scale debris removal will begin only after rescue personnel are certain that there are no more survivors or bodies under the rubble.
The Indian Railways joined the rescue operation on Friday after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) sought its assistance in cutting and removing twisted steel structures to facilitate the search for those feared trapped.
The warehouse, which was under construction, collapsed on Wednesday afternoon. The body of the principal contractor, who was among the five people named in the FIR registered in the case, has been recovered from the site.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh for the families of each deceased and ₹1 lakh for every injured person. The police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the collapse of the warehouse.
(With inputs from PTI)