A view of Taratala site where an under-construction warehouse collapsed on 24th June, in Kolkata on Saturday (June 27, 2026). 16 people died in the incident.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Minutes after the under-construction warehouse at Kolkata’s Taratala collapsed on June 24, Manikchand Kumar (22) found himself buried under the debris. The migrant worker knew that he was trapped under tonnes of debris and recorded a 32-second video with his phone. In the video he is desperately calling for help and praying Lord Hanuman to show him some way out. Mr. Kumar even called his relatives in Bihar, over telephone, saying that he was trapped inside.
Also read | Fragmented accountability: On the Taratala warehouse collapse in Kolkata
“After much efforts, I was able to reach the top tier. I asked two people who were trying to cut through the debris to pull me out,” Mr. Kumar told media persons after being discharged from the SSKM Hospital on Saturday (June 27, 2026). The migrant worker from Mirjachak lagma village in Bihar’s Munger district recounted the horror of the accident. “Everything happened so suddenly,” he said.
Mr. Kumar’s father, Rajendra Ram (55) was also rescued from under the debris. He was also discharged from the state run SSKM Hospital on Saturday (June 27, 2026). Rajendra busts into tears when asked about the accident. Mr. Kumar’s brother Soheed Kumar (26) was also rescued from the debris.
While three from the family had a miraculous escape and came out alive from tonnes of debris, they left for their village with a heavy heart. “Six of us had come to work at the site and we are carrying three bodies home,” Mr. Kumar said.
Ghee Kumar (19), Mannu Kumar (19) and Surchan Kumar ( age not known) three family members of the family had died in the flyover collapse. The family had come to earn a living at Taratla Warehouse construction site, but have lost their lives for no fault of theirs.
Several of them like Swapan Mondal, from Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas were the only earning members of the family. The family members of Mr. Swapan demanded that at least one person from the family be provided job by the State government. 33 workers were rescued from the site, which included 32 men and one woman. 16 male workers, who were working at the warehouse construction site had died. At least two of dead were minors. 23 workers who were trapped at the site were from West Bengal, six Bihar, two Jharkhand and one from Uttar Pradesh and one unknown person.
Locals claimed that over 40 workers were working at a construction site when the accident occurred, though the police said that there was no record of how many workers were at the site when the structure camp crashing down. The rescue operation, which involved various agencies like NDRF, Indian Army, Kolkata Police was in its final phase on Saturday evening.
The Suvendu Adhikari government has awarded ₹10 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased. The accident had occured at about 12.07 a.m. on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), when the roof of an under-construction warehouse collapsed in Kolkata’s Taratala area, leaving several workers buried inside the debris. The land was leased out to a private operator by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority for the construction of a warehouse.
Six persons have been arrested in connection with the accident, which includes the lessee of the land on which the warehouse was constructed, the structural engineer and a former officer-on-special duty (OSD) to the former Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim.
On Saturday (June 27, 2026), the Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Cell (BJMC) has lodged a police complaint seeking registration of an FIR against former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim and former councillors of KMC Anwar Khan and Shams Iqbal.
The complaint was submitted by the BJMC, South Kolkata district, at Taratala police alleging the role of the former mayor and two ex-councillors in permitting illegal constructions that allegedly led to recent building and warehouse collapses in the city.
Published – June 28, 2026 09:07 am IST
