India building collapse kills 4, more feared trapped

NEW DELHI, India – A building under construction collapsed on Wednesday, February 1, in northern India killing at least 4 laborers, an administrative official said, in the latest deadly accident to highlight shoddy construction standards in the country.

Workers were placing a concrete slab on the top floor of the seven-storey residential building in Uttar Pradesh state’s Kanpur district when it came crashing down.

“Four laborers have been killed in the collapse and 17 have been rushed to a hospital with injuries,” the area’s top administrative official, Kaushal Raj, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) by telephone.

Raj said the rescue operation would continue overnight “since there are some 30 more who are feared trapped under the debris.”

Television footage showed earth-moving machines and soldiers using bare hands and mechanical diggers to remove mangled slabs of concrete and steel as rescuers in yellow hard hats rushed to the spot with stretchers.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to offer his condolences.

“I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Singh said.

The accident is the latest in a long line of deadly building collapses in India.

In December, 9 people died when a building came down in southern India while under construction.

A massive influx of people to cities in search of jobs and a shortage of cheap housing have fuelled the construction of illegal buildings across the country, often with sub-standard material.

Millions also live in dilapidated old buildings, many of which cave in during heavy rains. – Rappler.com