adminAt least 10 people have been killed after a five-storey building under construction collapsed in the southern Indian state of Goa, authorities said.At least a dozen others were believed to be trapped under the rubble after the residential building in the city of Canacona caved in on Saturday afternoon.
About 50 daily-wage workers were working on the site when the accident happened, police said. Fire and emergency service crews rushed to the spot. Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers, shovels and bare hands struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to free the trapped workers.
“It was like an earthquake when the building fell,”witness Ramesh Naik said. “You could not see what exactly had happened because of the dust.”
Building collapses are common in India, as high demand for housing and lax regulations often encourage builders to cut corners by using substandard materials or add unauthorised extra floors.
“We will immediately arrest the builder, the contractor and municipal officials involved in sanctioning this construction site,” Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said. “I am personally monitoring the situation.”
He said that police had already filed complaints against those people involved in the construction of the building. Last September, a rundown five-storey residential block in India’s financial hub Mumbai collapsed, killing 60 people.
British daily The Guardian collected statistics showing that 2,651 people were killed across India in 2012 due to the collapse of 2,737 structures, including houses and bridges. — AlJazeera.
Online Reporter