calcutta bridge collapse

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At least 22 were killed when a flyover collapsed in Calcutta, India, west of the Bangladesh border.

It fell during rush hour, around 150 pedestrians and motorists are feared trapped underneath. 

Ambulances were blocked from getting to the scene amid blocked traffic.  

The flyover has been under construction for five years. The concrete was laid on Wednesday night.

Rescue workers use their bare hands to free people trapped under the wreckage of a collapsed flyover in Kolkata on Thursday.

Bloodied bodies were seen trapped under concrete slabs, while hands and legs were sticking out from under twisted debris.

At least 22 have died and 150 are feared trapped under the structure, which fell during rush hour on Thursday.

The concrete was laid on the bridge on Wednesday night. Around 12 hours later, it collapsed under the weight.

A body is carried from the wreckage as authorities race to dispatch specialist building equipment to lift the concrete slabs.

A man is seen pinned under the bridge amid the debris of the under-construction flyover after it collapsed on Thursday.

Locals and rescue workers clear the rubble that crushed cars as ambulances struggle to reach the area.

With emergency equipment teams stuck in traffic, locals are forced to move metal poles and rubble with their bare hands.

Fire engines and ambulances are stationed under another structure as they try to reach the scene.

Scores of people swarm around the structure to help pull people to safety.

Specialist rescue teams armed with metal cutters, drilling machines, sensors to detect life and sniffer dogs were dispatched to the scene.

Workers struggled to get cranes and other large machinery through the narrow streets of Burrabazar, one of the oldest and most congested parts of the city, where locals waited for news of missing loved ones.

The bridge was five years overdue. Ministers said it would be done by February but the concrete was only just laid on Wednesday.

A National Disaster Management Authority spokesman said it was unclear how many people were still trapped under the debris but said 'pedestrians as well as vehicles came under the falling flyover'.

The flyover came down during rush hour in a teeming commercial district near Girish Park, central Calcutta.

A 100-metre section of flyover collapsed onto a crowded street.

Footage shows firefighters and residents trying to rescue those who remain under the wreckage with their bare hands.

Dozens may be crushed underneath the collapsed flyover, which was under construction.

Witnesses and rescue workers are seen frantically trying to save those trapped.

A coordinated rescue operation was slow to get under way, with access for heavy lifting gear and ambulances restricted by the buildings on either side of the flyover and heavy traffic.