Minister Firhad Hakim at the crash site and (R) the collapsed portion of the bridge on the canal

KOLKATA: A 20-metre deck of the Majerhat bridge caved in on Tuesday evening, the city’s third bridge or flyover collapse in six years, killing one person and sending at least 21 people to hospital. Two of the hospital admissions were critical and rescue officials did not rule out the possibility of more people being trapped under the debris.Biker Soumen Bag, who happened to be crossing the bridge spanning the Sealdah-Budge Budge railway tracks and a canal, died after he fell headlong into the wedge as the deck split into two. His was one of the three bikes that fell in this wedge; a minibus and five cars suffered the same fate, accounting for most of the hospital admissions.The casualty figures could have been much higher had the crash happened barely an hour later, when the bridge would have been chock-a-block with vehicles carrying office returnees along Diamond Harbour Road. The bridge is the most important link between the rest of Kolkata on one hand and Behala and the most densely populated zones of South 24-Parganas district on the other, with an estimated 4,000 vehicles using it during peak hours; Behala alone has a population of nearly 10 lakh.People, who saw the crash first-hand, gave spine-chilling accounts of how a section of the bridge’s northern slope (towards Alipore) suddenly gave way around 4.40pm. “A minibus and cars that were ahead simply disappeared,” Rahul Rai, who was heading southward to Behala Chowrasta in a cab, said. “The rest of the bridge shook as my cab screeched to a halt and I stepped out. We were met with the surreal sight of cars and buses perched on the road that had crashed down two-and-a-half storeys,” he added.A cabbie, who was headed northwards to Mominpur from Taratala, said he suddenly felt the road beneath give way. “There was darkness around and a lot of dust. Trapped cars, bikes and a minibus came into view as the dust settled down gradually,” Sumanji Jha said.The first to respond to the emergency were residents of Mahadevtala slum located across Burdwan Road. They pulled commuters out of the bus and helped injured bikers. But one pedestrian, later identified as Darshan Kheti, who got trapped when the bridge collapsed, might still be missing, his friend said.CM Mamata Banerjee , who was stranded in Darjeeling when the bridge crashed, set up a probe team headed by chief secretary Malay De. “We are very worried. Our priorities are relief and rescue,” she said. De has sought a report from PWD secretary Arnab Roy.Mamata has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for each of those injured.Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who visited the site, stayed within gubernatorial proprieties but asked all agencies “responsible for maintaining bridges to do a thorough examination of all bridges and take corrective measures”. The portion of the bridge that collapsed on Tuesday fell within the state public works department’s jurisdiction (the portion of the bridge spanning the railway tracks would be the railways’ responsibility). “The bridge deserved better maintenance. There was a report on a pit here for quite some time. I don’t know whether the PWD noted it. The matter requires investigation,” he added.Teams from the fire brigade and Kolkata Police reached the spot in 30 minutes and started ferrying the injured to hospitals. A National Disaster Relief Force team, stationed on VIP Road, joined forces. But onset of dusk and the intermittent rains came in the way of rescue operations, officials admitted.Cops also stopped all traffic on Diamond Harbour Road immediately after the crash. Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who visited the spot, met traffic cops to chalk out diversions.