CHENNAI, India - Police in southern India detained five
construction company officials Sunday as rescuers using gas cutters and
shovels searched for dozens of workers believed buried in the rubble of a
building that collapsed during monsoon rains.
It was one of two weekend
building collapses that killed at least 26 people.
Nearly 90 contract workers were believed to have been in the basement
of the 11-story structure to collect their wages when it collapsed
Saturday on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.
Police said eight died on the spot and another seven succumbed to
injuries in a hospital. Another 20 people have been pulled out alive.
J. Jayalalitha, the state’s top elected official, visited the site on
Sunday and said another 40 people may still be trapped under the
debris, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
- Rescuers could hear feeble voices in the debris, said T.S. Sridhar, the disaster management agency commissioner. Officials used gas cutters, iron rods and shovels after cranes lifted concrete blocks to get to the survivors.
- Moderate to heavy rains hampered rescue efforts later Sunday, but these were continuing, said police officer Pushpraj, who uses one name.
- George Fernandes, another police officer, said two directors, two engineers and one supervisor of the construction company, Prime Sristi, were detained for questioning as authorities began investigating the collapse.
- Balaguru, one of the builders, said the structure collapsed possibly due to the impact of lightning.
- Earlier Saturday, 11 people died and one survivor was being treated in a hospital after a four-story, 50-year-old structure toppled in an area of New Delhi inhabited by the poor, said fire service officer Praveer Haldiar.
Most homes in that part of the capital were built without permission
and using substandard materials, police officer Madhur Verma said.
Building collapses are common in India, where high demand for housing
and lax regulations have encouraged some builders to cut corners, use
substandard materials or add unauthorized extra floors.
In April last year, 74 people were killed when an eight-story
building being constructed illegally in the Mumbai suburb of Thane in
western Maharashtra state caved in. It was the worst building collapse
in the country in decades.
Source: AFP.
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