An under-construction building in Kanpur’s Jajmau area collapsed on Wednesday, leaving at least eight people, most of them labourers, dead and over 30 injured, said officials. Three people were rescued from the debris and were taken to the Kanshi Ram Memorial Trauma Centre for treatment. They were all in critical condition, said doctors.
As per Kanpur’s deputy inspector general of police Rajesh Modak, the number of dead and injured may increase. The incident happened at the Kanpur Development Authority colony in the afternoon after top floors of the seven-storey under-construction building started falling, said Modak.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh talked to senior officials about the occurrence. “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,” tweeted the minister.
“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 another tweet.
Army personnel, civil defence and policemen handled the rescue operation together. “Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been called to assist in the rescue operation,” said Kanpur district magistrate Kaushal Raj.
The building, bordering to the famed Allah-o-Akbar Masjid, was being built for the last one year and is a part of a housing project of former district Samajwadi Party president Mehtab Alam. The weak groundwork is said to be the possible cause behind the building collapse.
In the beginning, inhabitants tried to clear the debris to drag out people but failed. Earth-moving machines were then called to aid in rescue operations.
