12 injured, four critical after under-construction concrete slab collapses in gurdwara

As many as 12 devotees and construction workers were injured after a concrete slab collapsed at Gurdwara Baba Darshan Das at Sangatpur village near Chohla Sahib in the district.

As many as 12 devotees and construction workers were injured after a concrete slab collapsed at Gurdwara Baba Darshan Das at Sangatpur village near Chohla Sahib in the district. However, no casualty was reported. The under-construction concrete slab was being laid at the site for Diwan Hall (congregation hall) under Kar Sewa.

As many as 12 devotees and construction workers were injured after a concrete slab collapsed at Gurdwara Baba Darshan Das at Sangatpur village near Chohla Sahib in the district.

Apart from the construction workers, devotees in large numbers were doing sewa (voluntary service) at the site, where slab was being laid over an area of 9,000 square feet. The devotees were helping the mason and labourers when the slab collapsed, leaving many trapped under construction material. People of nearby areas and teams of administration and Punjab police rushed to the site to rescue those trapped with the help of JCB machines and other means. The operation was going on till the filling of this report.

“A total of 12 devotees and labourers were injured in the incident and the rescue operation which is still underway. We have cleared around 75% debris and no other person is suspected to be buried under the debris. The injured persons have been hospitalised in Tarn Taran. Four critically injured have been referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Government Medical College Amritsar. No casualty has been reported yet”, said deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar who also rushed to the spot to monitor the rescue operation.

Expressing grief over the mishap, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami prayed for speedy recovery of the injured persons. He said it was a very sad incident that should not have happened.