Death toll in Bengaluru building collapse rises to five

Bengaluru: The death toll in the Bengaluru building collapse rose to five on Wednesday morning.

Thirteen people were rescued from the debris of the under-construction building which collapsed in Babusapalya near Hennur in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening.

Rescue operations were on as many more were feared trapped under the debris.

The death toll was likely to go up in the tragedy, according to sources.

The deceased were identified as 26-year-old Armaan, 35-year-old Tripal, and 19-year-old Mohammad Sahil, all migrant workers from Bihar, 25-year-old Satya Raju and Shankar.

The injured were 45-year-old Jagadevi, 28-year-old Rasheed, 25-year-old Nagaraju, 28-year-old Ramesh Kumar, Ayaz, and Harman.

The injured have been admitted to Bengaluru North and Hosmat hospitals.

According to sources, the condition of one of the labourers was critical.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Muniraju Reddy from Andhra Pradesh was the building owner.

The construction of the six-storeyed building had been underway for six months.

Soon after the incident, Reddy and his son, Mohan Reddy went missing, and the mason in charge of construction was not reachable. The police have launched a search for them.

According to the police, iron rods were not installed in the basement, and a large quantity of rainwater had accumulated in the pit dug for the compound’s construction, which led to the tragedy.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar visited the tragedy site on Tuesday late in the night and stated that about 21 persons were trapped inside the collapsed building.

“The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been pressured into service. The Fire Force and Emergency Services DG are on the spot with the team for the rescue operation,” Shivakumar said.

The construction labourers trapped inside the building hailed from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the contractor and the building owner will be booked.

“I was told that the construction was illegal. We will take strict action,” he underlined.

IANS