Building crash in Dharwad, Karnataka: Death toll rises to 7

Update:

Bengaluru: The death toll from the Dharwad building collapse has risen to 7, Director General of Fire and Emergency Services MN Reddy reportedly said.

20-03-2019

Bengaluru: The death toll in the collapse of a multi-storey commercial building under construction in Dharwad in Karnataka on Wednesday rose to four, police said on Wednesday.

Four people have been killed in the Tuesday disaster and so far 62 people had been rescued, police Inspector M.I. Basapur told IANS from Dharwad, about 400km northwest of here.

Rescuers were still searching for people who may be trapped under the debris, he said. Most of those trapped were migrant labourers from north India who were engaged in laying tiles.

Of the rescued, some received serious injuries and were being treated at hospitals.

A 25-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team flew in from Lucknow to undertake rescue operations, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said.

The reason for the accident was still being ascertained.

Rescuers have so far pulled out 56 people from the debris of the building under construction, which collapsed Tuesday evening at Kumareshwaranagar in the heart of Dharwad, about 400km from here.

In addition to 10 ambulances and five fire tenders deployed for relief and rescue operations, three teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) have been pressed into service, two from Ghaziabad and one from Bengaluru.

“Two more teams of #NDRF are being airlifted from Ghaziabad in addition to one team which was moved from Bengaluru in connection with Dharwad building collapse,” the NDRF tweeted.

About 150 police, fire and emergency personnel too have joined the rescue operations.

No arrests have been made so far.

Former Karnataka minister and Congress leader from the region Vinay Kulkarni said Tuesday that one of the partners in the building was his relative and that whoever was involved should face action.

An eyewitness had alleged that the building did not have the capacity to bear four storeys whereas an extra floor was being added.

“The builders had used substandard materials,” he told reporters Tuesday.

— Agencies