1 dead, 3 hurt as triple-storey building collapses in Mohali

MOHALI: A triple-storey building with a basement collapsed in Mohali on Saturday, leaving one person dead and three others injured.
Around 12.30 pm, a JCB machine was digging the basement adjoining the building owned by Parveen Kumar Ambika of Ambika Constructions for a hotel/restaurant.
According to eyewitnesses, when the machine had dug up around 10-feet of earth, the building suddenly came crashing down, burying four people. While two people were rescued within minutes, one of them was pulled out of the debris after eight hours. Passers-by rushed to the rescue of the people trapped and managed to pull out two, identified as Harjeet Singh, and Prem Bahadur, who is under treatment at civil hospital, Kharar. The victim was identified as Harvinder Singh, alias Babbu, a JCB driver.
Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said, “We got information around 12.35 pm about the building collapse. The district administration led by sub-divisional magistrate and additional deputy commissioner reached the site. Emergency services, including fire tenders and medical teams, were pressed into action. A team of NDRF with specialised equipment was contacted and called from Panchkula. A team of 25 people started the rescue operation. A back-up team from Ludhiana was also called.” The DC said that the Western Command of the Army was also contacted for help.
He said machines for clearing the debris required by the NDRF were locally arranged. A total of seven to eight JCB machines and four to five cranes were pressed into rescue operation.