3 killed, 1 injured in Gurugram building collapse, rescue ops over

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force, state disaster response force, police and fire brigade, which are carrying out the rescue operation, said that incessant rain early in the morning caused delay

Three persons were killed and one severely injured after a three-storey building collapsed in Khawaspur village in Farrukhnagar near Gurugram on Sunday evening. The police said on Monday that operation was over after 19 hours and debris were removed from the site. The reason behind the collapse was not yet clear, officials engaged in rescue work said.

A three-story building collapsed at Khawaspur Village on Pataudi Road in Gurugram on July 18. (HT Photo)

On Sunday, two people were pulled out from under the debris — Robin and Pradeep Choudhary. While Robin died, Choudhary suffered injuries and is undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital. On Monday, Pradeep Sharma and Tiny Bhardwaj’s bodies were retrieved who died due to severe injuries, said police.

Meanwhile, police registered a case against the company owner and manager under sections 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings), 34 (common intention) and 304 (II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) that carries a maximum punishment of 10 years was registered at Farrukhnagar police station on Monday.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), state disaster response force (SDRF), police and fire brigade, which are carrying out the rescue operation, said that incessant rain early in the morning caused delay.

Officials said they found out around 9pm on Sunday that four people were in the building, which housed the employees of a warehouse, when it came down. Eyewitnesses and other employees of the warehouse said the victims were sleeping when the incident took place.

Vijay Kumar (35), a resident of Bhiwani who is working in the company for the last one year, and the complainant in the case, said that the building was not in a good condition and they had already informed the manager and owner. “Around 7 pm, my colleague and I were sleeping when we heard the sound of cracks in the building. We rushed out without giving a second thought and as soon as we stepped out, the building collapsed in front of our eyes,” Kumar said.

Assistant commissioner of police Hitesh Yadav said they were investigating and no arrests had been made yet.

RS Bhath, district town planner, enforcement wing, said the reason for the collapse was yet unknown. “Our focus is to rescue people who have been trapped and as the building was old there could be multiple reasons. We will investigate once the rescue operation is over,” he said.