Portion of Gurugram building collapses, one dead

PTI, Feb 11, 2022, 7:55 AM IST

Gurugram: A woman was killed and two people were trapped under the rubble when a portion of an apartment building here collapsed on Thursday evening, an official said.

The official said the dining room floor of a sixth-floor apartment at Chintels Paradiso housing complex first came down, triggering the collapse of roofs and floors directly under it, till the first floor.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) carried out rescue work as people from neighbouring apartment blocks gathered outside the complex in sector 109.

Earth-moving machines and a Fire Brigade vehicle with an elevated platform were deployed.

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav told PTI that one person was killed. The deceased was identified as Ekta Bhardwaj, a senior official said.

The official said a man was pulled out from the debris and rushed to a hospital. He was identified as Arun Kumar Srivastava.

While sources said that his wife, Sunita Srivastava, succumbed to injuries, the official said that she was critical.

The DC told reporters that construction work was underway on the sixth floor when the floor collapsed. He said third to sixth floors of the building were vacant and people were living on the first and second floors.

Yadav said a detailed inquiry would ordered into the incident by the administration on Friday morning and action would be taken against those responsible if any lapses are found. Earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar tweeted about the incident, saying rescue operations were on.

“I am personally monitoring the situation and I pray for everyone’s safety,” he said.

Local residents said Tower D, part of which collapsed, was built in 2018. The complex has three other towers. The 18-floor Tower D has four-bedroom apartments.

The housing complex management blamed the disaster on “negligence” during repairs for the “extremely unfortunate incident”, which took place around 7 pm.

“Upon preliminary investigations, we have come to know that some negligence in repair work done by the contractor in an apartment led to this incident,” it said, offering condolences to the “affected families”.

The management said it is cooperating fully with the authorities.