A three-storey commercial building collapsed while digging work was on at an adjoining site in Punjab’s Mohali district on Saturday, leaving one person dead and several others trapped, officials said. Two people have been rescued, they said.
“The commercial building collapsed when a JCB machine was digging an adjoining plot for construction of basement,” Kharar Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Himanshu Jain said.
According to the police, an adjoining plot was being dug up when an earthmover hit one of the walls of the building, resulting in its collapsing as it could not take the weight of two mobile towers that were atop the building.
The operator of the earthmover, who was trapped under the debris, has died, the officials said.
A magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident which occurred on Kharar-Landran road, about 20 km from here, they said.
The police, fire brigade and Mohali district administration officials rushed to the spot and later NDRF team took over the rescue operation that is still on.
Two persons were rescued and one of them admitted to a local hospital.
{{/usCountry}}Two persons were rescued and one of them admitted to a local hospital.
{{/usCountry}}“We have rescued two people who were rushed to hospital. There is no clear number of how many people are trapped inside but we have learnt from people that there were about six persons inside the building when it collapsed,” Jain said.
“Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service to help trace the trapped people,” he said.
Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan, said, “Two people were rescued -Harjeet, since discharged and Prem Bahadur under treatment for fracture at Civil Hospital, Kharar. 2 or 3 more suspected to be under the debris. NDRF is on the job.”
Chief minister Amarinder Singh has sought a report on the incident. “Our focus is on rescue operation. After this, the magisterial enquiry will start of how did this happen,” said Dayalan.