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1 killed, 1 critical, 3 feared trapped as 4-storey building collapses in Mohali’s Sohana
Sohana building collapse: Excavation on the adjoining plot caused the tragedy; building owners, who also own the said plot, booked for culpable homicide
At least one person was killed, another one hospitalised in a critical condition and three more were feared trapped under the debris as a four-storey commercial building in Mohali’s Sohana village collapsed around 5pm on Saturday.
The building housed a gym in the basement and the two upper floors while the top two floors were paying guest accommodations.
As per the police, excavation work was going on in the adjacent plot, owned by the building owners, causing the land to sink and bring down the building with it. The digging started late Friday evening without proper precautionary measures or permission from Mohali municipal corporation.
The owners, Parwinder Singh and Gagandeep Singh of Chao Majra village have been booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The deceased has been identified as Drishti Verma, 20, daughter of late Bhagat Verma of Theog in Himachal Pradesh. She was pulled out of the debris over four hours after the building collapse and rushed to a private hospital in Sohana, where she was declared brought dead.
Rescue operations were on at the time of the filing of the report, with teams from the local police, fire brigade, disaster management, health department, and municipal corporation working together. A National Disaster Response Team (NDRF) and Border Security Force sleuths from Lakhnaur joined the operation after two hours. Multiple excavators are being used to rescue those trapped and at 15 ambulances have been stationed at the spot.
As a precautionary measure electricity in the area was snapped soon after the mishap.
Also read | Timely evacuation averts tragedy as Dongri building collapses; no injuries reported
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) serving with the Mohali police said there were three men in the gym, two women in the rented accommodation on the top floor. “Many people were evacuated by the contractor who saw the building tilting but still at least five persons, including two women, failed to get down before the building collapsed. The building eventually fell towards the plot which was being dug,” a police officer said.
Victim Drishti Verma’s fiance Ashish was seen in tears. “She stayed on the top floor of the building,” he said.
Another woman broke down at the spot as her husband, Abhishek, was feared trapped under the debris.
Senior police officers, including Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav, Mohali senior superintendent of police Deepak Pareek and DIG Ropar range Harcharan Singh Bhullar supervised the operation. MC commissioner T Benith confirmed that the owner of the gym had not taken any permission before starting the digging.
“The building which collapsed was constructed before 2014, before the area was handed over to the MC. The new construction was started without taking permission and thus we will take appropriate action against the culprits and will also initiate a survey of illegal buildings in the area,” the MC chief said.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann wrote on X said, “Sad news has been received that a multistorey building near Sohana in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali) has collapsed. The entire administration and other rescue teams have been deployed at the spot. I am in touch with administration.” The district administration has set up a control room +91 172-2219506 and is coordinating with Civil Hospital Mohali, Fortis, Max and Sohana Hospital.
