Kolkata: A labourer died, and four others were left with severe injuries after being caught under debris when portions of a century-old house in Bowbazar crashed on them while they were attempting to strengthen the pillars of the three-storey building.

The local councillor alleged that the repair work was underway without relevant permission from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).Bowbazar Police started a case of negligence and arrested Mukesh Jaiswal, one of the tenants, who pooled in funds from other tenants and deployed the labourers for the renovation work. The incident happened around 11.30 am on Sunday when the labourers were working on the first floor of the building.

The building's floor and ceiling both crashed down, trapping the labourers underneath for several minutes before locals, police, and firemen could rescue them.They were taken to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, where Asutosh Adhikari (40), a resident of Canning in South 24 Parganas, died. "Five of us were working at the building for the last three days. We were strengthening the pillar and ceiling using plywood and iron structures when the ceiling collapsed on Sunday.

My brother-in-law was stuck deep inside the debris. By the time he was brought out, he was unconscious and seemed already dead," said Sanjib Halder, one of the labourers.The century-old house on Srinath Das Lane belonged to Barrister Srinath Das, after whom the road outside was named. Locals said the original owners had long left the property, and currently, scores of tenants lived in the dilapidated building, occupying multiple houses across the floors.

Witness Dipankar Choudhury said, "The house was in poor condition for six months. Then renovation work began. Suddenly, I heard the house had collapsed.

Workers were working inside. While others managed to move away, one worker did not. It collapsed on him."KMC's building department staff, Disaster Management Group, fire brigade, and Bowbazar PS later formed a team to assess its structural stability, and barricades were put up. "The building even housed a school. It wasn't declared a dangerous building, but none informed us when the tenants started repairing the building by themselves after portions of the building started crumbling down. Currently, we have asked all tenants to leave the property, and KMC has started dismantling the precarious portions of the building," said Suman Singh, councillor.