Punjab building collapse: 23-hour rescue operation over, two found dead

Chandigarh: Two people were found dead as the 23-hour rescue operation involving the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Army, besides civil authorities, to locate missing people trapped in a collapsed four-storey building in Punjab’s Mohali ended on Sunday.

The body of a male was recovered on Sunday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Damandeep Kaur said, adding the victim has been identified as Abhishek Dhanwal, hailing from Haryana’s Ambala. Earlier, a woman, identified as Drishti Verma, 20, from Himachal Pradesh, died in the incident.

Officiating Deputy Commissioner Viraj S. Tidke along with Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Pareek, told the media the search and rescue operation to evacuate the trapped people whose exact number was not ascertained initially, got a boost when a critically injured woman was rescued from the wreckage.

After that, the operation continued the entire night and onwards till 4.30 pm on Sunday when it was made clear by the NDRF that there was no more possibility of any person being trapped under the debris.

Tidke said the debris had been checked by the NDRF thoroughly before declaring the operation over.

He said that a total of 600 NDRF, Army, and police personnel were roped in for the round-the-clock operation. He said about 140 NDRF team members, 167 from the Army’s 57 Engineers Regiment, over 300 local police personnel and the rest from allied departments were involved in the operation.

During the operation, requisite machinery was provided to the NDRF in addition to what they already had.

He said that a magisterial probe had been ordered in this incident to fix the responsibility. SDM Damandeep Kaur has been entrusted with the probe and she has been asked to submit the report within three weeks.

The whole operation was monitored by the district civil and police officials till its completion. Deputy Inspector General Harcharan Singh Bhullar, Additional Deputy Commissioner Anmol Singh Dhaliwal, and Superintendent of Police Jyoti Yadav Bains were present at the site of the operation.

According to officials, people were buried under the debris when the structure of a gym collapsed owing to digging in an adjacent building’s basement in Sector 77.

The police have booked and arrested the building owners — Parwinder Singh and Gagandeep Singh, charging them with culpable homicide.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had spoken with the district administration about the ongoing rescue works and directed us to make all possible efforts to rescue the victims. Also, Member of Parliament Malvinder Singh Kang and local MLA Kulwant Singh were at the site on Saturday to oversee the rescue work.

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav also took stock of the rescue work and directed the local police to ensure the safety of victims at all costs.

IANS