Two die as portion of building comes crashing down in city

Noida: A private contractor and a 16-year-old construction worker died while three were critically injured after an awning with multiple iron girders and a steel crust collapsed on them on Friday.
The accident in Sector 11 occurred on a day Noida police attached the property of a few developers who had raised buildings in Shahberi, an illegal colony where nine persons had died in a twin-building collapse in 2018
The two persons who died on Friday included a 42-year-old contractor of labourers involved in plumbing work at the building, which is located in an industrial unit. Sources said construction work was being done on the floors above the awning. It is believed that the iron girders had made the awning heavy and it came crashing down unable to bear the load of the metal.
Authorities, however, said the exact reason of the collapse was being investigated. The deceased were identified as Janender Kumar (42) and Gopi (16). Three others — Ashu (17) and Sagar (19), and the 70-year-old wife of the building’s owner — suffered serious injuries.
An NDRF team brought out the injured persons from under the debris. The team had to cut through the girders and the steel crust to rescue the injured.
Ashu told TOI he was working on the ground floor when the structure collapsed. “One of us was inside a room while two were seated outside on chairs after finishing work. I was fixing the wire of the grinding machine when the awning collapsed on us. It had too many iron girders, which caused us the injuries,” he added.
The heads of Janender and Gopi were crushed under the debris and they were declared dead on arrival at the District Hospital.
While Ashu is recuperating in Noida, Sagar was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi since he had serious injuries in the head and multiple fractures in the limbs.
Kamlesh, the wife of the building owner, RK Bhardwaj, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was informed about the collapse and he ordered the Noida police commissioner to go and inspect the spot himself. District magistrate Suhas LY also reached the spot.
“The Noida Authority is inquiring into what caused the accident. They will see whether permission had been taken for the construction or not and if engineers were there at the spot. If something is found amiss, action will be taken accordingly,” the DM said. The Noida police chief said the chief minister was monitoring the issue himself.
Bhardwaj, the building owner, insisted there was nothing wrong with the construction. “Who can avert a tragedy? There were thick girders in the awning,” he claimed.
Sources said all the labourers who were working in the building stay in Loni area of Ghaziabad.