Muscat: A 34-year-old furniture showroom in the Al Khuwair district of Muscat collapsed on Friday, killing two Indians.
The bodies of the workers, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, were recovered by the National Search and Rescue Team after a careful operation.
"Naufal Shamshuddin Karayil's body was found around 7pm while the body of Vinod Kumar, 34, was found after 11.30pm," Lt Col Azhar Bin Haroon Al Kindi, Head of the National Civil Defence Committee Executive Office (National Search and Rescue Team), told Gulf News on Saturday. Naufal Karayil was 22.
Ran out of building
He said that the victims were buried under slabs and possibly died instantly. Lt Col Al Kindi added that two of Naufal's friends escaped with minor injuries as they ran out of the building as soon as it started to crash down.
"Surprisingly the one-storey building collapsed vertically in no time," he said.
He added that investigations were being carried out to establish why the building collapsed.
"The building was very old, that could be one reason, or placing of heavy furniture items like safes could have triggered the collapse," he speculated.
The senior Civil Defence officer ruled out weather conditions on Friday as one of the reasons. "The wind was heavy but not to the extent to bring down a building," he said.
Lt Col Al Kindi added that the goods and employees of Teejan Furnishing were insured. "The furnishing showroom was rented so we are not sure if the building owner, who lives in Nizwa, had insured the property," he said.
He said that a team of 44 personnel from the Civil Defence carried out the search.
"Two sniffer dogs gave the rescue team an early indication that there were bodies," he said.
"Naufal had joined our company a year back while Kumar was a visitor," said Ameer Ahmad, Managing Director of Teejan Group of Companies. He said that prior to the collapse there were no signs of structural weakness.
"We are deeply saddened and shocked by the loss of lives in the tragic incident."
