Rescue ops on at Chintels Paradiso society in Gurgaon’s sector 109. Express A bureaucrat and his wife were trapped underneath rubble until late Thursday night after a chunk of the sixth floor collapsed all the way down to the first floor, at Chintels Paradiso society in Gurgaon’s Sector 109. At least one person, staying on the second floor, also died in the collapse.
As rescue operations were underway, an official told The Indian Express: “The apartments are 4-BHK with an approximate area of 3,150 square feet. Prima facie, the sixth floor’s structure was weak and it was undergoing repairs. The entire drawing room area caved in, and it had a cascading effect, with a large portion eventually crashing until the first floor.”
The casualties could have been higher, officials said, except the sixth, fifth and third floors were vacant, while the family who lives on the fourth had gone out for a function. A total of 450 flats out of 532 are occupied in tower D, which has 18 floors.
The bureaucrat, Arun Srivastava, is posted with the Indian Railway Service of Engineers. Gurgaon deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said the lower half of Srivastava’s body was stuck underneath the debris, even as medical professionals provided him treatment, including attaching a drip.
Sources said the department of town and country planning has ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident.
In an official statement, the builder, Chintels, said: “This is an extremely unfortunate incident and we have taken it very seriously as the safety of our residents is our utmost concern. We are fully cooperating with authorities and ensuring all support. We extend our heartfelt condolence to the affected families.”
Gurugram: Locals gather after a portion of a building of Chintels Paradiso housing society collapsed, in Gurugram, Thursday night, Feb. 10, 2022. (PTI Photo)(PTI02_10_2022_000377B) *** Local Caption *** Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also took note of the collapse and tweeted: “Administrative officials, along with SDRF and NDRF teams are busy in the rescue & relief work after the unfortunate collapse of the apartment roof at the Paradiso Housing Complex in Gurugram. I am personally monitoring the situation and I pray for everyone’s safety.”
The DC said preliminary probe has found that the builder was conducting renovation and construction activities on the sixth floor and prima facie it appears that the slab of the dining area could not take the extra load: “A detailed enquiry will be conducted tomorrow.”
Residents said the collapse sounded like “a loud explosion”.
Reetu Kapur, who stays on the 17th floor of the same tower, said renovation work had been going on at the 6th and 7th floors for the past few days. “The workers were using hammers and the whole living area collapsed. We have complained to the builder in the past but nothing was done,” she alleged.
Another resident, Sonam Mahajan, said they had raised complaints about structural issues in the past. Vijay Chauhan, who lives in the left wing of the tower, said at least three people were trapped under debris when he went to inspect his flat an hour after the incident.
Residents said that after the collapse, people started running to the ground floor as they were scared the entire structure might come down.
The repair work on the sixth floor was being carried out by the builder. An audit of the structure was carried out in July 2021 when a balcony of an apartment had collapsed. We had filed a complaint, but officials did not register an FIR. No action was taken on the structural audit report,” alleged Varun Dhamija, a resident of tower C.
Dr Lalit Kapur, a DU professor, who stays on the 11th floor, on the tower that saw the collapse, said he thought it was an earthquake at first: “When I looked out, I saw smoke and thought maybe it was a cylinder blast. Then, evacuation sirens started blaring.”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
