Not sure if you folks are aware, but I just noticed this while looking at the earthquakes in the area. I wouldn't post it except for the fact that it
is a Tech. Disaster, there are 32 dead and 60 injured, and it is in New Delhi India.
At least 32 people were killed and over 60 others injured when a four-storey building collapsed in a busy east Delhi locality on Monday night. The
building caved in at around 8.15pm in congested Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar.
Some 60 people were rescued from the building but scores of others are still feared to be trapped, a senior police official said. "32 people have been
killed in the incident," Delhi health minister Kiran Walia said. City police commissioner B K Gupta and medical officials said over 60 people were
injured. The injured persons and the bodies have been taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Lal Bahadur Shastri
Hospital and Hedgewar Hospital. Finance minister A K Walia said the foundation of the old building could have weakened due to the heavy rains in the
monsoon season when water of the Yamuna river flooded the area.
Locals said some water was still there in the basement of the building. Some residents also claimed that construction of an extra floor was going on
when the incident took place. Many of the injured were labourers. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident, Delhi government officials
said.
Huge mounds of concrete slabs and rubble were seen all around as rescuers, helped by the local residents, faced a tough task extricating people from
under the debris. The building is owned by a cement businessman named Amrit Singh, police officials said adding, an adjoining building also faces the
risk of collapse and people have been evacuated. "The scale of the tragedy is unprecedented. I don't think such a tragedy has taken place in Delhi in
the recent past," Delhi chief minister Sheila Dik# said. Dik# said it seems to be a "case of negligence" as the accumulated water in the basement for
more than two months since the monsoon was not removed.
She said it will have to be inquired if it was an unauthorised construction and that appropriate action will be taken if any wrongdoing is found. The
probe team will take into all aspects of the construction as well as the incident, she said. Eyewitnesses said they heard shouts for help from under
the debris. Locals complained that power cut and absence of cranes hampered the rescue efforts. Dik# admitted that the cranes took time to reach there
due to narrow bylanes.
Two of the floors of the 15-year-old building housed the offices of a cloth exporting firm and snacks item distributor. Announcements were made asking
people to be careful as there were gas cylinders in the debris. A 250-member disaster management team was deployed to help in the rescue operations.
Tents have been set up and food arranged for the survivors, Dik# said.
edit on 15-11-2010 by Crutchley29 because: (no reason
given)