In Karnataka’s Dharwad building collapse, death toll mounts to 11

“At least 15 people are possibly still under the debris and it’s unlikely they will survive,” an emergency official said.

Eleven people were confirmed dead on Thursday three days after a building under construction at Dharwad in north Karnataka caved in, officials said.

As many as 55 people were injured in the incident. Police have not arrested anyone yet. (AFP)

Fifty-three people have been rescued from the rubble of the five-storey building, but three more bodies were pulled out on Thursday.

“At least 15 people are possibly still under the debris and it’s unlikely they will survive,” emergency official Srikant, who goes by one name, told AFP.

The bodies of Divya Unakal (8), Dakshayini (45) and an unidentified person were retrieved from the debris as the rescue operations entered the third day, police said.

The four-storeyed building, which belonged to one of the relatives of former Congress minister Vinay Kulkarni, came crashing on Tuesday. As many as 55 people were injured in the incident.

Anger and frustration were palpable as more bodies were retrieved from the accident site with loud wails of relatives.

Locals sought to know how the civic agencies turned a blind eye to sub-standard materials being used for the construction, though everybody was apprehensive about the strength of the building. Police have not arrested anyone yet.

BJP MLA from Hubballi-Dharwad Central and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar too visited the spot and took stock of the situation