Death toll rises to 17 in building collapse; GHMC starts demolition drive

The death toll in the collapse of a Secunderabad hotel building mounted to 17 today, with four more bodies being pulled out from under the debris, even as the GHMC launched a drive to demolish unsafe buildings.

The death toll in the collapse of a Secunderabad hotel building mounted to 17 on Tuesday, with four more bodies being pulled out from under the debris, even as the GHMC launched a drive to demolish unsafe buildings.

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"Fifteen people are undergoing treatment for injuries they sustained in the collapse of City Light Hotel and Bakery on Rashtrapati Road yesterday," Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner M T Krishna Babu said.

The removal of the debris would continue tonight as well, he said.

The nearly 80-year-old two-storeyed building crumbled yesterday morning.

Police said that son of the hotel owner was one of the victims in the mishap.

"The injured were shifted to state-run Gandhi Hospital, where five among them were discharged while doctors performed surgeries on four others," an official said.

Meanwhile, the GHMC began a drive to demolish unsafe buildings and verify the safety of old buildings.

A combination of factors like construction of furnaces for cooking in the upper floor and seepage from a water tank have been cited as the possible reasons for the collapse.

A police case of negligence had also been registered against hotel owners.

The eatery was a favourite for morning tea and snacks for a large number of people, especially those belonging to the working class.