Kolkata/Nadia: Among the 11 workers killed in Wednesday’s Taratala warehouse tragedy, were 49-year-old Krishna Chowdhury of Purbasha in Bhatpara municipality, who joined the work a day before the tragedy after losing his Reliance jute mill job six months ago, and Rahul Chowdhury (17) from Krishnanagar’s Kotwali area who dropped out of school after completing his class VII studies.Both took up the job at the site to support their families.According to locals, Krishna was the sole breadwinner of a family that depended entirely on his earnings. “After losing his jute mill job, he joined labour-intensive jobs, including carrying goods and construction-related work. Only two days before the tragedy, he had joined a pipeline project at the Taratala site as a welder,” said local resident Amit Shaw.Rekha, wife of Krishna’s brother, appealed for govt assistance. “We did not know what had happened there. Suddenly, we received a phone call. I want to request the CM to help our family,” she said.Krishna’s elderly mother, Yashoda Devi Chowdhury, broke down while recalling that her son had gone to work only a day before.The tragedy also claimed the life of 40-year-old Pappu Kumar Rajak, a resident of East Carpetpara Road at Shyamnagar in Jagaddal. Rajak had recently joined the structural construction work at the warehouse under a private contractor. “My husband was the sole breadwinner of our family. He worked as a mason to run our family. He had started working at the site only a month ago. On Wednesday, around 5 p.m., I received the news of his death. Our only daughter, Pushpa, is still in school. I humbly appeal to the govt for help,” said his widow Shiuli.Construction workers Chandrama Chowdhury(60) and Rahul Chowdhury(17) from Char Shambhunagar Chowdhury Para under Krishnanagar Kotwali PS in Nadia, also lost their lives.Locals said both had travelled to Kolkata to work as construction labourers to support their families and earn a livelihood.Ramprosad, Rahul’s father, said, “My son had gone to Kolkata about 75 days ago. I received the tragic news around 4 pm on Wednesday. He had passed class VII but dropped out of school. I told him to continue studies, but he chose the job to support the familt.”Mala Chowdhury, daughter of Chandrama and a class X student of Amghata Chandpur Girls’ High School in Nadia, said, “My father was the sole breadwinner of our family. We are four sisters, and our brother is the eldest among us. My father last visited home on June 8 and returned to work the same day.”
