Several trapped in debris; owner of under-construction building arrested
In a tragic incident seven people were killed after a six-storey building collapsed and fell on another building in Greater Noida on Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday.
Bodies of two people were first recovered around 1.15 am on Wednesday. Six hours later, a third body was recovered. A woman was among those who died in the tragedy.
Firefighters involved in the rescue work said more people, including children, are feared trapped in the debris. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Gautam Budh Nagar police and the fire brigade personnel are carrying out the rescue operations that have been going on for over 16 hours.
Police have arrested four people, including the man who owned the under-construction site. “Four people have been arrested and an investigation is underway. Both criminal and administrative aspects will be investigated. I have set up a magisterial enquiry under ADM executive and have given them the time of 15 days,” District Magistrate (DM) BN Singh told reporters.
Senior police officials said more people could be arrested as the investigation is going on. However our focus is to rescue the people trapped.
Chief Fire Officer Arun Kumar Singh said at least 12 labourers were inside the building at the time of the incident and all of them are feared trapped.
The NDRF is using sniffer dogs, sensors and cameras to check if there are people trapped in the debris. Efforts are on to remove the debris with cranes.
According to police, one-year-old baby girl, her parents and her grandmother are among those who were living in the building and are feared trapped. Eyewitnesses said they were having dinner when we heard a noise. Fearing earthquake, they all tried to come out of their homes. They saw a thick cloud of dust and that hampered their vision to see what really had happened, said police.
Mintu Dekka, who used to take tuitions in the ill-fated building and lives two blocks away, said, “We rushed out and saw the top floors of the building collapsing.”
As the information of the building collapsing in a heap reached the district administration and police, officials rushed to the spot and rescue operation was lunched. Police personnel have been deployed in the area to control the crowd. However, locals accused police of reaching the spot an hour later.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate and the police to monitor relief and rescue activities along with the NDRF team.
The rescue teams are treading cautiously at the site as there is a risk of the debris falling. “This is an unstable collapse. We are working very cautiously here,” PK Srivastava, the NDRF officer leading the operation, said.