Many trapped as 3-storey building, hit by excavator, collapses in Mohali

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

Mohali, Feb 08, 2020:   Several people are feared trapped under the debris of a three-storey building that collapsed in Punjab’s Mohali on Saturday. Fire brigade personnel have launched a rescue operation in coordination with the National Disaster Response Force.

 

No casualties have been reported so far.

Officials said that the building, located near the JTPL City Project on the Kharar-Landran road, collapsed when an excavator working on an adjacent plot accidentally hit one of its walls. The structure reportedly housed the office of a local builder.

"The commercial building collapsed after a JCB was digging an adjoining plot for constructing a basement," news agency PTI quoted Kharar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Himanshu Jain as saying.

While two people were rescued, four to five more are feared stuck under the debris, the news agency reported. Two others, including the operator of the excavator, are still trapped but in constant touch with rescue workers through their mobile phones, PTI added.

"Anguished to learn of the collapse of a three-storeyed building in Kharar today with 2 people trapped. NDRF, Fire Brigade and Mohali officials are on the spot for immediate rescue and relief. Have asked DC Mohali Girish Dayalan to send a detailed report on what caused this collapse," Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tweeted soon after the collapse.