KOLKATA: Three persons, including a woman, were killed, and 34 others were injured after an overhead water tank collapsed on the platform of bustling Burdwan railway station on Wednesday noon. The condition of three of the injured, who were admitted to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, was stated to be critical.
According to railway officials, the incident took place around 12.05 pm when the water tank collapsed between platform numbers 2 and 3 where hundreds of commuters were waiting to board local trains.
“The tank was on an iron-made structure and it suddenly collapsed. It seems, the support of the structure became weak and failed to bear the weight of the water tank,” said a railway official.
Three of the injured were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
Railway officials, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, and Government Railway Police (GRP) men were engaged in the rescue operations to remove the commuters trapped under the fallen structure.
Train services in the division were disrupted because of the mishap. Officials of the Eastern Railway said services along platform numbers 1 and 4 were restored after an hour after the accident.
“An inquiry into the incident has already been ordered. Three railway employees have also been put on suspension as the preliminary findings of their negligence to maintain the condition of the tank and the structure on which the water tank was placed,” said another railway official.
The railway police officials said the water tank was made of corrugated metal sheet. “The incident raises the question of whether a safety audit of the railway stations has been done. The mishap would have been more devastating had the water tank been made of concrete,” said a railway police officer.