Four killed as under-construction chimney collapses at Asansol power plant in West Bengal

Four people died after a portion of an under-construction chimney collapsed at a power plant in West Bengal’s Asansol on Saturday evening, officials said.

The accident occurred at Shyam SEL And Power Limited in the Jamuria neighbourhood, where construction work was underway and several workers were present at the site.

Jamuria MLA Bijan Mukherjee said four people were trapped beneath the collapsed structure and were subsequently rescued. Three were found dead, while the fourth was taken to hospital and placed on ventilator support but later died.

MLA rules out negligence, inquiry ordered

Describing the incident as tragic, Mukherjee said other workers managed to escape after noticing the structure collapsing.

“As for the rest, the moment they saw the structure collapsing, they managed to get out. But for those four... call it fate or whatever you will that they died on Saptami (seventh day) of the Durga Puja. It is a very tragic incident. We tried our best to rescue everyone, but couldn't save our four brothers,” he said.

Asked whether negligence had contributed to the collapse, the MLA said he would not characterise it as such. He described Shyam SEL as a reputed company whose workers were well-trained and had considerable experience.

“It was freshly laid concrete. Somewhere, somehow, an issue arose,” he said.

Mukherjee added that safety gear had been used at the site and that an inquiry would be conducted to establish the cause of the accident.

Accident coincides with deadly Kolkata stampede

The chimney collapse occurred at around the same time as a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata, approximately 200 km away, on Saturday evening, which was Saptami, the seventh day of the festival.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said 18 people were killed and 25 injured in the Kolkata stampede.