Eight die in Gurdaspur after roof collapses due to heavy rain

Eight people died today after the roof of a house in which they were living collapsed in Punjab's Gurdaspur district due to heavy rainfall.

The house belonged to a person named Mangal Singh whose entire family died in the accident.

A local resident said, "Eight have died and the ninth is in critical condition. His whole family is finished. The deceased include two women, three men, two kids of the family and Mangal Singh himself. We came at 6 in the morning and the house was down by that time and we started pulling them out. We do not know when the house fell."

"His daughter had to get married and there was a ceremony today. Her marriage was on 11th September. One woman is left who has been taken to a hospital in Amritsar," he added.

Another local resident added that there has been continuous downpour since last night.

Demanding compensation from the government, Mangal Singh's brother Baldev Singh said, "He was the eldest among us. His daughter in law is safe, she is in the hospital, we do not know about her. Everybody else is dead. They were poor people; they used to work hard to earn their daily bread. The government should pay maximum compensation."

Reports say that so far 23 people have died in Punjab within two days due to similar incidents of roof collapse and electrocution at various places following heavy rains.