Wall collapse kills 12-year-old, injures 5 in Faridabad; 5 booked

Police alleged construction material was stacked against the boundary wall using an excavator, causing it to give way. All accused are absconding.

A 12-year-old was crushed to death and five others, including three minors, were injured when a 15-foot-high peripheral brick-wall of a plot collapsed on them in Faridabad’s Parvatiya colony, police said on Sunday. Three building material contractors, a landlord and an excavator operator have been booked in the case.

The victims, including three children and two women, were rescued by locals. The deceased was declared dead at Civil Hospital while others remain stable. (HT)

The deceased is a resident of Sainik colony in Faridabad while the injured include her sister 9- and 6-year-old sisters and their mother Sheetal Devi, 35. Another woman named Yogesh, 51, and another 6-year-old who was playing near the spot, both residents of Parvatiya Colony, were injured.

The incident took place between 5.30pm and 6pm on Saturday when Sheetal was taking her three daughters to her brother’s residence.

Police said that all six were walking through the colony by-lane along the peripheral wall, when it suddenly collapsed after failing to bear pressure of the load of construction material placed against it inside the plot using a an excavator.

Residents later demolished the remaining wall and pelted stones at the contractors’ office, prompting police deployment to maintain order. (HT)

Yahspal Yadav, public relations office of Faridabad police, said local residents were the first responders who pulled all the two women and their four children out after removing the debris.

“All of them were rushed to Badshah Khan civil hospital where doctors declared the 12-year-old dead. Other victims had sustained multiple fractures,” he said, adding that they are currently stable.

Hours after the incidents, the angry locals gathered at the spot and demolished the remaining wall and also pelted stone at the office of the three contractors who were carrying out construction work on the plot. Police personnel were then deployed at the spot to maintain law and order.

Inspector Hukum Singh, station house officer of Saran police station, said that on complaint the 12-year-old’s uncle, an FIR was registered against the three contractors, land owner and the operator under section 106 (causing death by negligence), 3(5) (common intention) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on Sunday.

“The JCB operator had placed huge amount of construction material against the wall on direction of the contractors because of which it collapsed,” he said, adding all the suspects were on the run and efforts were on to arrest them.

The child’s body was handed over to the family after autopsy on Sunday, said police.