5-yr-old girl dies in Ggm wall collapse

Police said that around 5.30pm on Wednesday, a 40-foot periphery wall collapsed inwards, trapping five people under the rubble

Gurugram

A contractor had piled soil up against the wall, said police. (HT Photo)

A five-year-old girl died after a brick wall at an open plot in Gurugram Sector 83 collapsed, police officers said on Thursday, adding that four other people were injured in the incident.

Police identified the deceased as Rizwana Ali, originally from North Dinajpur, West Bengal. They said she was living in Gurugram with her father Mustafa Ali, 23, who is a daily wager at a construction site. According to police, around 150 workers at the construction site live at the open plot.

Police said that around 5.30pm on Wednesday, a 40-foot periphery wall collapsed inwards, trapping five people under the rubble.

Investigators said other residents in the compound pulled the five out and sent them to a nearby private hospital for treatment. They said the girl died during the course of treatment late on Wednesday night, while the condition of the other four — Ratur Rehman, 40, Bappi (single name), 45, Phulan Devi, 37, and Ramanuj Mahto, 50 — is stable.

A senior officer said that a contractor had piled soil up against the wall. “The mound weakened the wall, which finally collapsed on Wednesday,” he said.

Surender Singh, assistant commissioner of police (Manesar), said that they are waiting for the girl’s father to submit a written complaint. “As soon as we receive any complaint, an FIR will be registered in the case and necessary action will be taken,” he said.

This is the second fatal wall collapse in Gurugram in two months. On April 20, the peripheral wall of the Ram Bagh crematorium near Pataudi Chowk had collapsed, an incident in which five people had died. Three committee members of the crematorium were arrested in connection with the case.