Pune: 17 die after wall in residential-complex collapses; cars stuck
What's the story
In an unfortunate case, which raises questions about the country's poor infrastructure, 17 people, including four children and a woman, died on Saturday after a wall of a residential complex collapsed in Pune.
The incident was reported from Kondhwa area and the wall came down due to incessant rains.
Two-three people are still trapped and efforts are underway to rescue them.
Here's the ground report.
What happened
The wall collapsed on shanties which housed laborers
The incident took place near Talab Masjid, where shanties were built for laborers working at a construction site nearby. At around 1:45 AM, the 60-feet tall wall of Alcon Stylus housing society collapsed.
According to reports, the poor victims got trapped under the collapsed wall and the soil behind. Several cars were also stuck in the debris.
After the incident, locals informed the police.
Rescue
Three people were taken to hospital for treatment
Apart from the police, teams of district administration, Pune City Fire Brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), were also called at the spot.
Three people, including two men and one woman, were brought out alive and taken to a hospital where they are being treated for serious injuries.
Pune police commissioner K Venkatesham promised firm action against those responsible.
Twitter Post
Will check if proper permission was taken: Commissioner
Pune police commissioner K Venkatesham on wall collapse in Kondhwa: Our team is investigating the reasons behind the incident. Firm action will be taken against those responsible. We will check whether proper permissions were taken and safety measures were followed. #Pune pic.twitter.com/bdl0RLi1Nu
— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2019
Statement
Most of the deceased belonged to Bihar and West Bengal
Separately, District Collector of Pune, Naval Kishore Ram said it is not a small incident. "The wall collapsed due to heavy rainfall. Negligence of the construction company is coming to light with this incident," he said.
Ram also revealed that most of the laborers belonged to Bihar and West Bengal.
"The deceased have been identified and their relatives are being informed," he added.
Rains
Meanwhile, Pune rains have set a new record
Pune guardian minister Chandrakant Dada Patil has sought a report to ascertain if the shanties were built following legal procedure or not.
Since Thursday, Pune has been witnessing heavy rainfalls. Till last night, Pune received 73.1 millimeter of rain in 24 hours, the second highest since June 2010.
Reportedly, on Friday eight people died and five were injured in rain-related incidents across Maharashtra.