At least five people, all of them labourers, were buried alive when a retaining wall of an under-construction building collapsed and fell over them at Donyi Colony here today, officials said.
The retaining wall of the under-construction building collapsed at around 6 am due to incessant rainfall in the last two days, the Disaster Management Secretary, Bidol Tayeng, said.
All the labourers were residents of Biswanath Chariali in Assam's Biswanath district, an official said.
State police personnel along with a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel undertook rescue operation since 7.30 am, and after hours, retrieved the bodies in the evening, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Itanagar Capital Complex, Prince Dhawan, said.
The disaster management secretary said that the state government would give ex-gratia to the families of the deceased.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)