A building under construction collapsed Wednesday in northern India killing at least seven labourers, an administrative official said, in the latest deadly accident to highlight shoddy construction standards in the country.
Workers were placing a concrete slab on the top floor of the seven-storey residential building in Uttar Pradesh state’s Kanpur district when it came crashing down.
“seven labourers have been killed in the collapse and 30 have been rushed to a hospital with injuries,” the area’s top administrative official, Kaushal Raj, told AFP by telephone.
Raj said the rescue operation would continue overnight “since there are some 30 more who are feared trapped under the debris”.
Television footage showed earth-moving machines and soldiers using bare hands and mechanical diggers to remove mangled slabs of concrete and steel as rescuers in yellow hard hats rushed to the spot with stretchers.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to offer his condolences.
“I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Singh said.
The accident is the latest in a long line of deadly building collapses in India.
In December, nine people died when a building came down in southern India while under construction.
A massive influx of people to cities in search of jobs and a shortage of cheap housing have fuelled the construction of illegal buildings across the country, often with sub-standard material.
Millions also live in dilapidated old buildings, many of which cave in during heavy rains.Three people were rescued from the debris and rushed to the Kanshi Ram Memorial Trauma Centre for treatment. Doctors said they were in critical condition.
Kanpur’s deputy inspector general of police Rajesh Modak said the number of dead and injured may rise.
The incident took place at the Kanpur Development Authority colony in the afternoon, when top floors of the seven-storey under-construction building started falling, Modak said.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh said he spoke to senior officials about the incident. “Spoke to DG NDRF regarding the news of an under construction building collapse in Kanpur. Two teams are rushing to the spot for rescue ops,” the minister tweeted.“I offer my condolences to those who lost their loved ones in Kanpur building collapse. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he said in a second tweet.
Army personnel were assisting the civil defence and policemen engaged in the rescue operation.
“Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been called to assist in the rescue operation,” said Kanpur district magistrate Kaushal The building, adjacent to the famous Allah-o-Akbar Masjid, was being constructed for the last one year. It is part of a housing project of former district Samajwadi Party president Mehtab Alam.
A weak foundation is said to be the possible reason behind the building collapse.
Eyewitnesses said they were watching the budget proceedings when they heard a loud noise. “Nothing was visible because of dust around,” said Taj Hussain, who lives close to the site.
“The workers hired for construction were living on different floors of the structure. They were at least 40 in number,” Hussain added.
Initially, locals tried to clear the debris to pull out people but failed. Earth-moving machines on the Kanpur-Lucknow highway were then called in to help in rescue operations.
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