Three persons were killed and at least 34 injured when a 133-year-old overhead metal tank partially collapsed on a passengers’ shed at Burdwan railway station on Wednesday afternoon, with gallons of water gushing down and sweeping several others on the platform off their feet onto the tracks.

The overhead tank, constructed in 1890 with a capacity of 2.5 lakh litres, was placed above platforms 2 and 3, and collapsed around 12.08pm when over 100 passengers were waiting to board trains. The incident prompted questions on whether the British-era construction had been maintained properly by the railways.

A statement by the Eastern Railway said: “About 12:08pm, a portion of the side wall of the water tank placed above platform No. 2 & 3 of Barddhaman station broke and fell on the platform. Train movement was suspended through line 1, 2 & 3 of Barddhaman as a safety measure. Railway officials and rescue teams rushed to the site.”

Many in Burdwan recalled how a portion of the main building of the station, enlisted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Amrit Bharat Station modernisation scheme in 2023, had collapsed on January 5, 2020, during renovation that was allegedly conducted without a health audit of the 166-year-old building. A person had died and another was injured in that mishap.

“Three persons were brought dead to our hospital. There are a few with serious injuries out of the 34 admitted here,” said Tapas Ghosh, the medical superintendent and vice-principal of the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, on Wednesday after the tank collapse.

The three who died in the tank collapse were identified as Kanti Bahadur, 16, from Bihar’s Sahebganj, Sonaram Tudu, 35, from Jharkhand’s Pakur, and Mafija Khatun Sheikh (age yet to be ascertained) of Burdwan. Bahadur and Tudu were waiting with their families for a Bihar-bound train.

“Before I could understand anything, I was swept away onto the tracks by a stupendous gush of water,” said Punam Devi, a passenger from Sahebganj who suffered minor injuries.

While the mishap temporarily halted the plying of trains through platforms 1, 2 and 3 till late in the evening, a senior railway official said there was no major disruption as the station had two more platforms.

“The affected platforms will be operational once the debris of the passengers’
shed is removed,” an official said.

A team of senior railway officials headed by Howrah divisional railway manager Sanjeev Kumar has reached Burdwan to inspect the spot and meet the injured. The railways announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of the three who died, and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.

“The general manager of Eastern Railway has formed a three-member team to probe the incident. We will take steps once the team submits its report,” Kumar said. The chief bridge engineer of Eastern Railway will head the investigation team and submit a report shortly.

Sources said the Government Railway Police of Bengal had started a parallel investigation to find out what led to the death of the passengers.

Witnesses said they were stunned by a loud noise and soon realised that a portion of the passengers’ shed had collapsed on some passengers. At least six passengers were washed away and fell on the tracks.

“It was a bizarre incident. I was waiting on platform 1 to catch a train with my wife. I saw a portion of the iron tank falling on the shed, which partially collapsed on a few passengers. Simultaneously, gallons of water from the tank washed away several passengers. Many were injured while trying to get to safety in a hurry,” said Ashutosh Chakrabarty, a 70-year-old retired state government employee from Belgharia in Calcutta.

He said he saw water leaking from the tank and falling on the shed for about 10 minutes before the accident, a claim corroborated by several commuters.

Howrah divisional railway manager Kumar, however, said there was no report of leak from the tank when it was cleaned the last time on December 2.

“It may be that the leak occurred just before the tank partially collapsed. A detailed inspection of the water tank was conducted in December last year and there was no report of any leak then too. We have to wait till the investigation reports arrive,” he said.

A section of Eastern Railway officials said on the condition of anonymity that the Modi government seemed more interested in setting up new infrastructure, often at the cost of maintenance of older constructions.

“The department has been busy laying new tracks, new signal systems and introducing new high-speed trains. There is nothing wrong with this, but such accidents prove that the distraction from taking care of existing infrastructure endangers passenger safety,” said a senior railway official.

The Trinamul Congress accused the railway ministry of negligence leading to the deaths.

“Narendra Modi and the Union ministry of railways are busy flagging off new trains but they don’t care about the existing infrastructure. If the tank had been properly maintained, then three lives would not have been lost. The railways under the BJP regime are less interested in ensuring passenger safety,” said Khokan Das, the Burdwan South Trinamul MLA, who visited the station after the accident.

The BJP said the tragedy ought not to be politicised.

“We want the railways to investigate this and take care of those affected. But Trinamul should not politicise this tragedy,” said state BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.