A partially built flyover collapsed in India's eastern city of Kolkata on Thursday, killing at least one person and trapping many more under mounds of debris, media reports and a lawmaker said.

Police and passers-by were using their hands to try to lift slabs of concrete and metal to reach those trapped underneath, with media reporting at least one person had been killed.

"Monumental tragedy. Rescue ops on. Many feared dead," tweeted Derek O'Brien, a lawmaker and spokesman for the ruling Trinamool Congress Party in West Bengal state, of which Kolkata is the capital.

The flyover was under construction when it collapsed onto a busy road below, local media reported.

Footage showed one bloodied body and also the hand of a person sticking out from under twisted debris.

The Press Trust of India news agency, citing police, said one person was dead with an unknown number of others trapped.

The accident is the latest in a string of deadly construction collapses in India, some of which have highlighted shoddy building standards.

A huge demand for housing, roads and other infrastructure in India often results in cost-cutting and a lack of safety inspections.
Source: AFP