An 85-year-old woman was killed and two other family members, including a nine-year-old girl, were injured after a ceiling collapsed inside a dilapidated residential building in Kolkata’s Park Circus area early Monday morning.
The incident occurred between 3 am and 3.30 am at a three-storey rented house on Shamsul Huda Road, near Lohar Pool. Police said a large portion of the ground-floor ceiling gave way while five family members were asleep, crashing down on them.
Emergency responders rushed three of the injured to a nearby hospital, where Rabia Khatun (85) was declared dead on arrival. Another family member suffered a fractured leg, while the child sustained injuries to her face and mouth. Their condition is reported to be stable.
Neighbours alleged that the building was in a “severely dilapidated” condition and that residents had repeatedly warned the owner about the risk. “The owner was alerted many times about the need for repairs, but ignored the warnings,” a local resident said.
Police said no formal criminal complaint had been registered against the building owner as of Monday morning. Officials from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation cordoned off the premises with guardrails and said a structural inspection would be carried out to assess whether the remaining parts of the building are safe for occupation.
The incident has once again raised concerns over ageing and poorly maintained residential structures in the city, especially in densely populated neighbourhoods like Park Circus.