At least six persons were injured, including two seriously, as an under-construction roof caved in on Sunday here.
The accident occurred at around 2.30 pm at CIPET at Bampada under the Industrial Police Station limits.
Dularam Murmu and Karan Murmu were in seriously injured, while the other injured were Ranjan Murmu , Buddhiram Murmu , Mangal Hembram and laxman Marandi, all between 18 and 30 years of age. They belong to Bisipur under Udla block of neighbouring Mayurbhanj and had been hired by the contractor.
The roof of about 1,000 square feet collapsed while the grouting was almost completed. An eye witnesses said there were about nine on the top. The roof height was about 35 feet.
The casting of roof was made for the first floor of the building on pillars and columns when the ground floor was not constructed. The building was constructed, reportedly for women hostel of the CIPET. The contract while was awarded to NBCC, the main contractor is stated to be is one lalit Satpathy who in turn had reportedly engaged four more petty contractors for the job.
During the casting of roof, Suraj Biswal, a contractor, was present at the site. He was taken into custody by police. Superintendent of Police Niti Sekhar, ADM MM Pani and other senior officials rushed to site and supervised the recue and evacuation.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), besides fire brigade personnel, were on clearing the site.
“The debris removal from the site is in progress. No casualty was reported so far. The injured were admitted in the DHH,” said Remuna tehsildar Binay Mohanty . The police said a case would be registered and suitable action against the defaulters would be taken.
The locals shouted against the administration alleging that the rescue team arrived late and operation was sluggish. They also alleged there was fault in the pre casting works as standard was compromised.