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2 labourers killed, 2 injured in Mohali as wall of under-construction mall collapses
Two labourers were killed and two injured in Mohali after wall of under-construction mall collapsed; Deceased are both natives of Bihar and were working at the site; rescue operation underway
Two labourers were killed and two others suffered serious injuries after a retaining wall of an under-construction mall of Mohali City Centre-2 in Aerocity collapsed at 5.15 pm on Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Ravinder Sahi, 28, and Shankar Majhi, 30, both natives of Bihar and were working at the site.
While the injured namely Azad was rushed to a private hospital in Phase-6, Mohinder was admitted to the Civil Hospital in Phase-6.
Narrow escape for another labourer
Another labourer had a close shave as he saw the wall collapsing and jumped to the other side.
Senior police officers, including DSP (City 2) Harsimran Singh Bal, rushed to the spot. The teams of the fire brigade and the NDRF also reached there.
“We received the information about the incident at 5.20 pm following which we rushed to the spot and dug out the victims trapped under the sand pile. The operation will continue till late hours as more people are expected to be trapped inside,” said an official from the fire department.
Mohali SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said two deaths have been confirmed and two suffered injuries, adding that the rescue operation was underway to look for any other trapped person.
Soon after the incident, the area was cordoned off by the police which also created panic among the relatives of the victims as they were not allowed at the accident site.
Labourers gather at site, protest
Initially while the police tried to take the injured to the hospital, other labourers did not allow them to lift the bodies. They stated that they won’t allow the bodies to be lifted unless the contractor personally comes to the site, the sources added.
Mohali SDM Sarabjit Kaur and ADGP Arpit Shukla arrived at the site. Hundreds of labourers gathered at the site.
“The contractor himself was not there at the site at the time of the accident. The work was going on under the supervision of the foreman. The labourers wanted the contractor at the site and asked police to take legal action against him,” the source added. Anil Jain is the MD of the site but he couldn’t be reached for comment.
Finally, police succeeded in lifting the bodies and took them to the local civil hospital after which the labourers blocked the road. Police eventually cleared the blockade.
Meanwhile, a number of ambulances were stationed at the site along with vehicles of the Mohali fire station while the operation was underway till the filing of the report.
A senior official said that after completing the rescue operation, legal action would be taken against those found guilty of negligence including the owner and the contractor. DIG Rupnagar Range Gurpreet Singh Bhullar also reached the spot.
“We won’t spare any guilty person. The two injured in the case are out of danger”, said DIG
Past tragedies
On September 22, one person died and three suffered injuries after an under-construction shed of a rice sheller collapsed at Basola village in Lalru of Mohali district.
On March 30, two female workers were killed and five others injured after an under-construction iron shed collapsed at Rampur Kalan village in Zirakpur.
