Seven dead in Gurugram building collapse, rescue operation called off

The newly-laid ceiling on the top floor of the building had crashed, triggering the collapse of the entire structure, said authorities.

Rescue works underway after a four-storey building collapsed in Ullawas area of Gurugram, early Thursday morning, Jan 24, 2019. (PTI Photo)

GURUGRAM: Seven bodies were pulled out from the debris of the under-construction four-storey building in Gurugram which collapsed on Thursday morning. 

The incident took place at Gurugram's Ullawas village at 5 am.

"The semi-constructed three storey building, with concrete roofing placed for the fourth floor, collapsed resulting in the entire building coming down," Isham Singh, chief fire officer of Gurugram, said.

Following the building collapse, three teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire fighters, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, officials of the civil defence, dog squad and local police personnel rushed to the spot. 

Rescue operations were finally called off on Friday morning, nearly 24 hours after the incident. 

Three of the dead have been identified as Kuldeep (32), Vishal (17), Altaf (24), all hailing from Uttar Pradesh`s Ambedkar Nagar district, and Anand (22) who hailed from Samastipur in Bihar. 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced financial assistance of Rs three lakh to the family members of the victims who died in the building collapse incident.

Gurugram SDM Sanjeev Single had earlier said, “Building was unstable and was being built without any technical expertise. Almost 150 people are carrying out rescue ops.”

According to an official, the newly-laid ceiling on the top floor of the building had crashed, triggering the collapse of the entire structure.

The Gurgaon Fire Department control room received a call at 5.15 am alerting them about the collapse. 

"Those killed were on the second and the third floor, the building's ground and first floor were vacant," said the NDRF official, involved in the rescue operation.

"NDRF responders removed rubble and cleared obstructive materials using high-tech equipment to reach the victims. Thereafter, a vertical approach was made with the help of specialised gear," the spokesperson added.

With agency inputs